Late rally pushes Sensex above 17,000-point mark

Mumbai, Nov 20 : A late rally by banking and energy stocks Friday helped a benchmark index close above the 17,000-point mark, up 1.41 percent, after languishing in the negative terrain for most of the day.

The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) -- which opened at 16,772.75 points against Thursday's close at 16,785.65 points -- shut shop at 17,021.85 points, closing 236.2 points or 1.41 percent higher.

At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty was ruling at 5,052.45 points, against the previous close at 4,989 points, a gain of 1.27 percent.

Broader market indices also ended in the green with the BSE midcap index up 1.08 percent and the BSE smallcap index closing 0.43 percent higher.

The market breadth was positive, with 1,452 stocks advancing, 1,240 declining and 98 remaining unchanged.

Out of the 30 Sensex stocks, 26 managed to end in the green. Prominent among them were ACC, up 4.55 percent at Rs.766.45; Hindalco, up 3.47 percent at Rs.134.35; Jaiprakash Associates, up 2.73 percent at Rs.232.90; and Tata Steel, up 2.66 percent at Rs.551.60.

The four losers were Bharti Airtel, down 1.4 percent at Rs.288.75; Reliance Infrastructure, down 0.62 percent at Rs.1,098.40; Maruti Suzuki, down 0.26 percent at Rs.1,542.45; and BHEL, down 0.06 percent at Rs.2,261.55.

Among other prominent Asian markets, the Nikkei, a key index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, shut shop at 9,479.68 points, down 0.54 percent or 51.79 points.

The Hang Seng, a benchmark index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange closed at 22,443.22 points, 0.83 percent or 187.32 points lower.

The Kospi, benchmark index of the Korean Stock Exchange, ended at 1,620.6 points, almost unchanged from Thursday.

In China, the Shanghai composite index also closed in the red at 3,308.35 points, down 0.37 percent.

Major European markets were trading flat.

Britain's FTSE 100 index was ruling at 5,266.76 points, down 0.02 percent, while its French peer, CAC 40, was trading 0.14 percent lower at 3,755.13 points.

The German index, DAX, was trading at 5,699.12 points, 0.05 percent down from its last closing figure.