Sensex closes well above 7000, helped by Reliance and ONGC

21 June 2005

After the Sensex hving touched the 7000-mark for the first time ever yesterday, not many traders were expecting a runaway rally in the markets today. Most expected the indices to trade flat at best as some profit booking was expected to emerge.

The indices opened marginally lower and dipped to the day's low soon after on selling pressure.

Some good news on the monsoon front and the continued surge in super heavyweights Reliance Industries and ONGC helped the indices to recover and maintain an upward trend for the rest of the day.

Both Reliance and ONGC closed with gains of over 2 per cent each. Other heavyweights which saw good gains were ICICI Bank, HLL and Tata Steel.

Both the major indices closed with gains of well over a per cent each and the Sensex managed to close well above 7000 for the first time. Combined NSE and BSE volumes of over Rs20,000 crore in the cash and derivatives segments were also substantially higher than the average volumes in the recent past.

Sensex closed at 7076, up 92 points and the Nifty at 2170, up 26 points from yeserday's close. Nifty June futures discount to the spot narrowed to 22 points from yesterday's 26 points.