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Mumbai, Jun 19: The market opened on a rather listless note this morning and till some time past mid afternoon, it remained that way as investors kept booking profits in blue chip stocks at every noticeable rise. Weak Asian markets amid fresh worries on interest rates rendered the market highly slippery till then.

However, thanks to some strong buying in frontline stocks during the final hour of trade, the benchmark indices Sensex and the Nifty rose sharply and ended the day on a high note today. Midcaps and smallcaps, which had remained firm even as the biggies were struggling to make a headway, gained further ground as the session drew to a close.

The Sensex, which had slipped to a low of 9755.21 in early trade this morning, sped past the 10,000 mark to a high of 10,049.94 during the fag end of the day before finally settling at 9997.84, with a handsome gain of 1.15% or 113.33 points. On the National Stock Exchange, the 50 stock Nifty index, which swung in a range of around 114 points - it hit a high of 2932.90 and a low of 2846.50 in intra-day trades today -, ended at 2916.90, netting a gain of 0.92% or 26.55 points for the day.

Metal and auto stocks were among the first to bounce back from lower levels. Information technology, healthcare and FMCG stocks joined the bandwagon some time during mid afternoon while PSU, oil and consumer durables scrips shrugged off their weakness during the final few minutes. The Metal and Auto indices shot up by 2.73% and 2.21% respectively. The FMCG index rose 1.51% while the healthcare index recorded a rise of 1.29%. Capital Goods, Oil & Gas, Consumer Durables, PSU, IT and Teck indices surged 0.55% - 1%. The Bankex, which eased by 0.39%, was the lone sectoral index to end in the red today.

Tata Motors rallied sharply to Rs 772.95 and despite finishing a few rupees down from that level, recorded a handsome gain of 5.95% today. Maruti Udyog (3.9%) and Bajaj Auto (2.75%) firmed up smartly as well while two wheeler maker Hero Honda, which remained relatively subdued, scored a modest gain of 0.6%.

Cipla (5.2%), ACC (4.5%), BHEL (3.85%), Grasim Industries (3.4%), Tata Steel (3.3%), Reliance Communications Ventures (3.3%), NTPC (2.85%), Hindalco (2.75%), Hindustan Lever (2.6%), Infosys Technologies (2.55%) and Reliance Industries (1.35%) helped lift the Sensex sharply into the positive territory this afternoon.

Gujarat Ambuja Cements, HDFC, HDFC Bank, ONGC and ITC posted smart gains. Dr. Reddy's Laboratories and Ranbaxy Laboratories edged up by around a quarter per cent.

Engineering and construction sector major Larsen & Toubro, which remained in the red right through the day, finished with a 2.75% loss. State Bank of India (down 1.95%), Wipro (down 1.45%), Bharti Airtel (1.2%), Tata Consultancy Services (down 1.1%) and ICICI Bank (down 1.05%) went out of favour as well. Reliance Energy lost around a quarter per cent while Satyam Computers, which enjoyed a bright spell in the positive territory around early afternoon, closed with a very small loss.

MTNL, Tata Tea, VSNL, IPCL, Dabur India, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, Tata Chemicals, Mahindra & Mahindra, GAIL India and Punjab National Bank ended with sharp to moderate gains. SAIL, Zee Telefilms and Nalco ended just above their previous closing levels.

Sun Pharmaceuticals, GlaxoSmithKline Pharma, BPCL and Jet Airways finished with marked losses. Shipping Corporation of India, HCL Technologies, Oriental Bank of Commerce and ABB also closed on a weak note.

Aztec Software, Bajaj Auto Finance, SRF, India Cements, Greaves Cotton, TV 18, Kalyani Steel, Orchid Chemicals, Aban Loyd Chiles, Havells India, Century Textiles, Navneet Publications, Nagarjuna Constructions, Himatsingka Seide, Sical, Hinduja TMT, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, Grindwell Norton, Finolex Cables and Tata Investment Corporation were some of the prominent gainers in the midcap index.

Frenzied buying was seen on a number of side counters today. Reflecting investor interest in midcap and smallcap space, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices climbed up 2.34% and 2.42% respectively. The market breadth was highly positive when the session ended today. Out of 2421 stocks traded on BSE, as many as 1612 stocks had moved up into the positive territory. 741 stocks ended on a weak note while 68 stocks settled unchanged from their previous closing levels.