Mkts cheer, Sensex closes above 10,600

Mumbai: It was a strong session for markets making gains for the third straight session on the eve of F&O expiry.

Although it started of tepid but picked up pace and closed higher, despite some mixed global cues.

The uptrend was initiated by midcaps and then the effect rubbed on to the frontline stocks on the back of some bargain hunting and strong numbers by the corporates like Bharti Airtel, ONGC M&M and Deccan Chronicle.

The Sensex managed to close above the 10,600 level. The Sensex closed with gains of 202 at 10,617.27 and the Nifty gained 70 points at 3110.

The Asian markets were flattish but the European markets have opened in the green.

The BSE Small Cap Index closed at 4,968.19, up 114 points.

The BSE Midcap Index ended at 4,181.54, up 86 points.

About 1613 shares have advanced, 734 shares declined, and 76 shares are unchanged.

All the BSE sectoral indices closed in the green. Banking stocks lead the rally followed by metal and auto stocks.

The BSE FMCG Index was up 2.7 per cent at 1,906.05. Nestle, McDowell, Colgate, Shaw Wallace and Tata Tea closed in green.

The BSE Oil and Gas Index rose 2.4 per cent at 5,109.76. GAIL, IOC, ONGC and Chennai Petro advanced higher.

The BSE Auto Index added 2.2 per cent at 4,367.16. M&M, Escorts, Hind Motors, Cummins and Tata Motors closed in positive terrain.

The BSE Capital Goods Index was up 2.1 per cent at 6,691.54. Carborundum, HEG, Praj Industries, Crompton Greave and Dredging Corporation closed higher.

The BSE Health Care Index was up by 2 per cent at 3,165.16. Ranbaxy Labs, Matrix Lab, Sun Pharma, Ipca Labs and Wyeth were among the major gainers.

The BSE IT Index was up by 2 per cent at 3,920.17 moved up. Mphasis BFL, Moser Baer, Patni Computer and HCL Tech jumped

The BSE Metal Index advanced by 1.2 per cent at 7,786.49. Welspun Guj, Sesa Goa, Hindalco and Jindal Steel witnessed buying interest.

The BSE Consumer Durables Index gained 1.3 per cent at 2,607.26. Whirlpool, BPL, Su-Raj Diamonds, Blue Star and Titan Industries were up.

The BSE Bankex was up 0.9 per cent at 4,609.94. UTI Bank, Kotak Mahindra, Allahabad Bank, Bank of India and HDFC Bank were among the gainers.

The NSE cash turnover was at Rs 5,795.1 crore and the NSE F&O turnover was at Rs 31,531.84 crore. The BSE cash turnover was Rs 2446.3 crore. Total market wide turnover was at Rs 3,9773.24 crore.