Shares of auto companies,led by Tata Motors,today moved up on the Bombay Stock Exchange pushing the auto index by over 125 points on hopes that the on-going festive and wedding season would boost sales. Record August sales also boosted the trading sentiment. Tata Motors remained the front-runner among auto stocks and rallied 2.73 per cent to close at Rs 1,054.45 after hitting an intra day high of Rs 1,067.50. The BSE auto index was the third best performer among sectoral indices after consumer durables and IT sector. It ended 125.07 points,or 1.37 per cent,higher at 9,153.73. Meanwhile,the 30-share benchmark Sensex today surged by 138.63 points to close at 19,346.96. "Easy availability of funds,festive and marriage season buying helped the auto scrips soar," said a Delhi-based stockbroker. Traders also said that robust growth in auto sales in August and encouraging quarter results,generated interest for auto stocks. Auto major Maruti Suzuki's scrip shot up by 1.5 per cent to close at Rs 1,346.10 after surging to Rs 1,368.90,while Ashok Leyland's share moved up by 6.25 per cent to Rs 77.30. Other gainers included Mahindra & Mahindra,up 1.44 per cent to Rs 670.05,Bajaj Auto up 0.02 per cent to Rs 1,470.15 and Escorts Ltd,up 0.53 per cent to Rs 210.
