Sensex at 33-mth high on buying by funds Read more: Sensex at 33-mth high on buying by funds

MUMBAI: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Monday rose by 31 points to close at a 33-month high on sustained buying by funds and retail investors.

The 30-share index closed 30.69 points higher at 20,475.73 points, matching the level seen in January 2008. The barometer had touched an intra-day high of 20,706.74 points but profit selling in last 30-minute pared some of the gains.

The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty crossed the 6,200 level for the first time in 33 months before ending 16.05 points higher at 6,159.45 points.

A lower opening in the European markets this afternoon triggered profit selling and reduced the gains, brokers said.

ICICI Bank, the country's largest private lender, rose by 2 per cent to Rs 1,157.75.

Market also got a boost from Reliance Industries, the heaviest in the Sensex, which rose by over 1 per cent, or Rs 18.60, to Rs 1,017.90.

Tata Motors, the country's biggest truck maker and owner of Jaguar Land Rover, advanced by 1.85 per cent, or Rs 16.50, to Rs 1,139.60, its highest level so far after pledging to cut debt.

The healthcare sector index gained the most by rising 1.69 per cent to 6,210.92 followed by consumer durable sector index by 1.47 per cent to 6,529.42. Banking index also rose by 0.79 per cent to 14,365.29. The auto sector index rose by 0.63 per cent to 9,818.75.

In 30-BSE index components, 14 stocks gained while other 16 led by software exporters ended in the negative zone.

TOI

Ayodhya:Fresh moves for out of court settlement

Ayodhya, Oct 3 (PTI) Fresh moves appear to be afoot to resolve the Ayodhya dispute out of court, three days after the Allahabad High Court verdict in the case.

Mohammad Hashim Ansari, one of the main litigants in the title suits, today met Mahant Gyan Das of Hanumanghari who is also President of Akhil Bhartiya Akhara Parishad to explore the possibility of an amicable solution.

Though Mahant Gyan Das refused to divulge details, 90-year-old Ansari said: "I have initiated the move after being asked by the Sunni Central Wakf Board."

During an hour-long closed door meeting between Gyan Das and Ansari at Hanumanghari, famous Lord Hanuman temple near the makeshift temple on the disputed site, discussions revolved around ways to chalk out an agreement on the 60-year-old temple-mosque dispute.

Motorola launches two dual-SIM phones

NEW DELHI: After Nokia, it is the turn of Motorola to improvise its product portfolio to suit the growing demand for dual-SIM handsets in India.

The American company, struggling to re-establish its handsets division, said it was launching its first two dual-SIM (GSM and GSM) handsets in India at affordable prices.

Both the handsets will be immediately available at retails outlets across India, claimed Motorola in a press statement. The Motorola EX128 is priced at a best buy price of Rs 5,990 (MRP: Rs 6,990) and the Motorola EX115 at Rs 4,990 (MRP: Rs 5,990).

The Motorola EX115 is a dual-SIM QWERTY phone, while the Motorola EX128 is a touchscreen dual-SIM with stylus. Both the models boast of embedded social connectivity icons, entertainment-on-the-go with a 3-megapixel camera, video camcorder, large colour display and an expandable memory of up to 32GB micro-SD card.

At 12.8mm thick, the Motorola EX128 is a multimedia phone that comes with a generous 8.1cm (3.2 inch) WQVGA touchscreen. One can browse Web pages and check emails along with social networking on this phone. It offers multimedia experience with its 3-megapixel camera with digital zoom and video camcorder, as well as supports MPEG4 and FM radio. With an expandable memory of up to 32GB, this handset claims a talktime of up to 300 minutes and standby time of up to 350 hours. It has a 65K colour display and dimensions of 107.7mm in width, 58mm in length, and 12.4mm in height.

TOI

Sensex up by 225 pts on all-round buying

MUMBAI: Positive global cues and persistent capital inflows drove the benchmark Sensex up by 225 points in early trade on the BSE today, with auto stocks generating strong demand ahead of the release of September sales data.

After surging by 115 points within minutes of opening, the 30-share barometer of the Bombay Stock Exchange was up by 225.35 points, or 1.12 per cent, at 20,294.47 at 1015 hours.

The National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty was also up by 63.75 points, or 1.06 per cent, at 6,093.70 at 1015 hours.

All the sectoral indices on the BSE were trading in the green. In addition to auto stocks, metal shares were on a roll after positive economic data from the US and China signalled that demand was unlikely to slowdown in the near-term.

As per provisional data from the stock exchanges, foreign funds continue to pump in money into the Indian economy and bought shares worth Rs 2,496.89 crore during Thursday's session.

Meanwhile, key benchmark indices in Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan rose by about 0.11 per cent to 0.89 per cent in morning trade today.

TOI