Market close: Sensex zooms up 312 points

The benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty opened gap down on Tuesday and during the day scaled up continuously to post a steep gain. Reliance Industries and major private banks contributed the most to the index gains.

The BSE Sensex opened at 39,131.94 and hit a high of 39,490.64 and finally closed at 39,434.94, up by 311.98 points or 0.80 per cent on Tuesday. Almost a similar path was followed by the broader index Nifty50 which closed up by 96.80 points or 0.83 per cent at 11,796.45 on Friday. On Nifty, 35 stocks advanced, while 15 stocks declined.

The top index heavyweights which were pushing the BSE Sensex up were Reliance Industries contributing positive 105.03 points, HDFC 38.58 points, Axis Bank 32.97 points, ICICI Bank 25.48 points and HDFC Bank 25.05 points.

Among the highlights of Tuesday's trading session were Emami that gained by 8 per cent, Torrent Power up by 12.42 per cent and India Cement up by 10.70 per cent and Manappuram 7.54 per cent, while stocks that were dumped included Anil Ambani group companies namely Reliance Power, Reliance Infra and Reliance Capital. Also, ICICI General Insurance and SBI Life closed down on BSE.

Sectorally, Metal index gained the most, up by 1.74 per cent, while Nifty Bank closed up by 0.80 per cent. All sectoral indices closed in green on Tuesday.