Sensex ends 111 pts up; BSE Auto at record high, CIL up 4%

The BSE Sensex and the Nifty gained for the fourth consecutive session, rising 0.6% each amid a choppy trade on Thursday. Auto, healthcare, steel & mining, FMCG and HDFC group companies' shares helped the market close higher while the fall in Reliance Industries, State Bank of India and BHEL limited upside.

Also due to the better than expected response to Spain bond auction the European markets rally today, which was another cue for the market to gain. Spain sold bonds worth euro 2.54 billion, which was higher than expectations of euro 2.5 billion.

Back home, the BSE benchmark rose 111.32 points, to close at 17,503.71 led by 21 components, taking the total gains of over 409 points in four sessions. The NSE benchmark stayed above the 5300 level for major part of the session, which moved up 32.40 points to 5,332.40.

Listen to the accompanying audio for the market wrap..

Auto stocks hogged the limelight on expectations of rise in sales volumes after the Reserve Bank of India cut repo rate by 50 basis points on Tuesday. The BSE Auto index closed at an all-time high of 10,744.73, rising 2%, which saw an intraday high of 10,786.6 (a record high as well).

Tata Motors, country's largest commercial vehicle maker and Maruti Suzuki, top car maker shot up 3.2% and 3.6%, respectively. M&M and Hero Motocorp were up 2-2.5% while Bajaj Auto gained 0.8%.

Private sector lender HDFC Bank rallied over 3% while rivals State Bank of India and ICICI Bank fell 0.8% and 0.8%, respectively. Housing financing company HDFC moved up 1.6%.

Cigarette major ITC topped the weightage list on the Sensex with 9.11% followed by Reliance Industries with 9.10% and Infosys with 7.99%. HDFC Bank comes at fourth place in terms of weightage based on free float market cap.

ITC gained 1.3% and FMCG company HUL rose 0.9%. Defensive sector - healthcare too participated in today's rally. Dr Reddy's Labs, Ranbaxy Labs and Cipla gained around 2% while Sun Pharma was flat.

Infosys, software services provider went up 1.3% after falling over 14% since its Q4 results while rival TCS was up 0.5% and Wipro slipped 1.35%.

Largest coal mining company Coal India was the top gainer among Sensex 30, rising nearly 4%. However, state-owned BHEL, post downgraded by foreign brokerages, tanked 3.66% and Larsen & Toubro was down 0.5%.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries lost 1% ahead of fourth quarter numbers that schedule to be announced on Friday.

Shares of ACC, country's largest cement company by market cap lost nearly 4% post disappointing results in Q1CY12. Its net profit fell 57% YoY to Rs 151 crore due to higher depreciation. Ambuja Cements too dropped 1%.