Sensex pierces 13,000 mark

The Sensex surged over 500 points by late trading, and crossed the psychological 13,000 level in what was the biggest single-day rise in points in months. Strong Asian markets triggered the rebound on the domestic bourses, which had seen a huge value erosion over the past few days.

The Sensex closed at 13,099.83, with a gain of 520.08 points,while Nifty closed at 3762 with a gain of 135 points.PSU power equipment major Bhel surged 7% to Rs 2165, Gujarat Ambuja Cements gained 8% to Rs 112.65, HDFC Bank vaulted 7.7% to Rs 987, Ranbaxy surged 6.9% to Rs 331, Dr Reddy’s Lab rose 6.4% to Rs 675, Grasim advanced 6.9% to Rs 2250 and L&T rose 5% to Rs 1527.

Telecom shares rose for the second day in a row on the eve of the listing of Idea Cellular on Friday (9 March 2007). Reliance Communications surged 5.8% to Rs 434.90, and Bharti Airtel gained 5.8% to Rs 764. Reliance Industries (RIL) advanced 3.6% to Rs 1336.85, and IPCL jumped 11.8% to Rs 259.

FIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 749 crore in index-based futures on Wednesday. They were net buyers to the tune of Rs 335 crore in individual stock futures on the same day.