Core sector scrips upbeat

MUMBAI, March 18: The `national agenda' of the BJP boosted the sentiment on stock exchanges on Wednesday with both BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty ...

MUMBAI, March 18: The `national agenda’ of the BJP boosted the sentiment on stock exchanges on Wednesday with both BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty gaining 34 points and 20 points respectively.

With a new government set to take over on Thursday, investors were cautious in making commitments. However, infrastructure stocks rallied sharply on news that the BJP has highlighted the need for increasing public spending in the core sector. Marketmen also expect incentives to domestic industries. Fueled by local punters and foreign funds, pharma and software scrips also attracted speculative support. The closing rates showed widespread small to modest gains,

though the volume of business dropped slightly.

The BSE Sensex started higher at 3803.66 points, rose to an intra-day high of 3839.55 points before closing at 3825.02 compared to the previous level of 3791.17 points. The BSE-100 index improved by 17.41 points to 1655.77 from the previous close. Brokers say another reason for the improved sentiment was the start of anew account on the NSE as operators were eager to build fresh positions for the week. Stocks of Thermax, Indian Rayon and Nestle hit the circuit breaker with Nestle seeing major buying from FIIs.

On the NSE, pivotals rallied smartly on fresh speculative buying. The NSE-50 index opened at 1083.85 and touched a high of 1108.20 before closing at 1103.35, showing a rise of 20.05 from the previous close. The Midcap opened at 1239.30, rose to 1281.60 and closed at 1276.35, showing a gain of 37.35 from the previous close of 1239.00. The total volume of business was Rs 1,289.33 crore.