Sensex up by 338 pts as buying gathers momentum

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today ended past the 20K mark, gaining 338 points as buying support gathered momentum following the government's decision to allow trusts to invest in securities. The BSE barometer ended the day at 20,192.52, a net rise of 338.40 points or 1.70 per cent over Monday's close of 19,854.12. Reliance Industries, State Bank of India, L&T, Tata Steel, Reliance Energy and BHEL were among the major gainers. The broader S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also gained 85.65 points or 1.43 per cent to close at 6,070.75 from the previous close of 5,985.10 points. The government's decision to amend the Indian Trusts Act to enable trusts to invest in securities, including shares and bonds of listed companies, is expected to further boost the stock market, analysts observed.
Operators and Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were engaged in short covering as well as rolling over positions to January series of derivatives as the current contract expires on December 27, market players said.The market sentiment was aided by a firm trend in Asian markets while European markets were closed for Christmas. The market-wide roll over was impressive in keeping with the trend in last four months, which have witnessed nearly 75 to 80 per cent rollover, they added.
Oil and gas, realty, PSU, metal, power, capital goods and bank shares attracted heavy buying interest. The mid-cap and small-cap shares were also in demand and scored sharp gains. As a result, their indices rose 2.5 per cent and 3.0 per cent respectively at close.
Source:- http://www.headlinesindia.com/business/index.jsp?news_code=66877