Sensex hits 17,000 led by banks, oil & gas, metals

ALSO READ See Key Market Stats - Top Gainers/ Losers, Most Actives, Highs/Lows See how Global Markets are trading Indian ADRs Nifty BSE | NSE 10/02/12 Are Mutual Funds betting on Nifty?

At 14:56 hours IST, the Sensex rallied further and tested the 17,000 mark post the government said that it has not taken any steps to discourage investment via P-Notes. Outstanding P-Note Investment was at Rs 1.24 lakh crore as on October 31. Buying was seen across all the sectors; oil & gas, banking, metal, FMCG, technology and select infrastructure were the leading sectors. About 0.5% gain in European markets was also supporting the markets.

To protect the farmers' interest in case of sugar prices, Mamata Banerjee said UPA (United Progressive Alliance) decided to repeal clause 3 (B) and mills would pay sugar FRP-SAP (fair & remunerative price - state advisory price) difference. This means states may be exempted from bearing FRP and SAP difference.

Reliance Industries, SBI, TCS, SAIL, HDFC, DLF, HDFC Bank, Jindal Steel, L&T, Sterlite, ICICI Bank, ITC, Tata Steel and HUL were up 1-3%. However, only few stocks like Bharti Airtel, Reliance Capital, Reliance Power, Suzlon, Maruti, Unitech and HCL Tech were the losers, down 0.5-3%.

The Sensex gained 217 points at 17,002 and the Nifty jumped 59 points at 5,048. The market breadh was mixed; about 1,494 shares advanced while 1,349 shares declined on the BSE. Nearly 587 shares were unchanged.

In the midcap space, Dena Bank, Jubilant, Vijaya Bank, Jaiprakash Hydro and Jindal Saw were up 5.5-9% while KGN Industries, Welspun Gujarat, Patni Computer, Kirloskar Brothers and United Phosphorous fell 3-8%.

In the smallcap space, TV Today Network, Jindal Drilling, Bliss GVS, NDTV and Pratibha Industries gained 9-11.5% while Resurgere Mines, Alembic, PVP Ventures, Kwality Dairy and PSL slipped 3.5-5.5%.

Continued on the next page...