Sensex rallied 1344.63 pts

Mumbai, May 17 (Agency) The BSE Sensex on Tuesday soared 1344.63 pts to close at 54,318.47 on the back of positive global cues. The Nifty of National Stock Exchange (NSE) too rose 417 pts to close at 16,259.30. The Sensex opened higher by 312 pts at 53,285, it spurted 1426 pts to reach 54,399, the day’s high, before closing at 54,318.47, up 1344.63 pts. The Sensex registered the day’s high and low at 54,399.42 and 53,176.02 pts respectively. The Nifty recorded the day’s high and low at 16,284.25 and 15,900.80 respectively. The sectoral indices like Metal, Material, Oil and Gas and Capital Goods stocks kept the market firm for another session today. In scrips, Tata Steel, a major gainer, surged 7.62 pc to close at Rs 1188.35 in 30 scrips of BSE.

Other gainers were Reliance Industries by 4.26 pc to Rs 2630.70, ITC by 4.15 pc to Rs 264.60, L&T by 4 pc to Rs 1607 and Wipro by 3.97 pc to Rs 486.80. The scrip, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) listed at Rs 867.20 on the BSE, a 8.6 per cent discount compared with its issue price of Rs 949 per share offered to qualified institutions and non-institutional buyers. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the scrip opened at Rs 872, i.e. 8 per cent lower against its issue price. At close, the stock stood at Rs 875.45 on the BSE. The Mid Cap rose by 2.51 pc and Small Cap by 2.78 pc. All 30 scrips were positive today. The Asian Market was seen strong as Australia was up by 0.33 pc, China was up by 0.65 pc, Hong Kong by 3.27 pc, Japan by 0.42 pc and Taiwan by 0.98 pc.