Sensex gains 181 points, Nifty ends above 5700

The Sensex rose on Thursday as auto makers such as Tata Motors and property developers rose on hopes for increased sales of big ticket items during the looming festival season, while lenders also gained on hope for increased retail loan demand.

State Bank of India gained 2.7 percent, while HDFC Bank rose 1.3 percent. Tata Motors rose 2.1 percent, while two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp added 1.9 percent

The BSE Sensex gained 1 per cent or 181 points at 18,792 while the broader Nifty advanced 58 points at 5,719.

Strong gains in Asian shares helped sentiments on the Street. European shares, however, traded lower.

Analysts have been bullish in their outlook despite the recent consolidation that has seen the benchmark indices trade off the year-high.

"5,630-5,635 was tested and held over last one week. Expect a test of resistances around 5,730 with a medium term target at 5,900-5,950," independent analyst Sarvendra Srivastava said.

Cement and infra major Jaiprakash Associates was the top Nifty gainer, rising 4.5 per cent. Private lender Axis Bank also closed with over 4 per cent gains while PSU lender Bank of Baroda advanced 3.85 per cent.

HCL Tech, which posted strong earnings yesterday, gained 3.5 per cent. Realty major DLF broke its four day losing streak and closed 2 per cent higher.

Cement major ACC saw profit taking after it posted in line numbers for the September quarter.

11 stocks traded lower on the Nifty. Mobile carrier Bharti ended 1.7 per cent lower over spectrum refarming concerns. IT major Wipro and drug maker Sun Pharma were the other stocks to witness over 1 per cent decline on the Nifty.

Debt laden Kingfisher Airlines was locked down in lower circuit after the company's meeting with the striking employees failed to resolve the deadlock over unpaid salaries.


(With inputs from Thomson Reuters)