Oil and Metal stocks take Sensex past 8400

19 September 2005

There seems to be no end to this momentum-led bull run as new sectors come into the limelight on virtually a daily basis and keep the frontline indices in an upward trajectory. Sectors keep alternating the lead and today it was the turn of metals and oil refining and marketing stocks with some help from banking and autos.

Indices opened with some volatility in the morning. After opening with gains, the Nifty went back to Friday's closing levels and the Sensex slipped into the negative for a brief period. The recovery came soon and after trading sideways for another hour, the indices shot up by noon as buying emerged. Sensex crossed the 8400-mark in this surge and managed to stay above that level for the rest of the day.

Among the index stocks, oil marketing companies BPCL and HPCL were the best performers. While BPCL added close to 6 per cent HPCL gained over 4 per cent.

Among the gainers in the metal space, SAIL and Hindalco stood out. Both stocks added over three-and-a-half per cent each. Tata Steel added close to 2 per cent.

Maruti was the best performer among auto stocks, surging almost 6 per cent in afternoon trades. The stock closed with gains of close to 5 per cent. Bajaj Auto added 2 per cent.

ITC added more than 3 per cent to close at a new lifetime high. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and PNB were the gainers from the banking space.