MUMBAI, June 11: Pivotals led by software, power and oil stocks firmed up smartly on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) as well as on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on allround buying support by foriegn financial institutions coupled with local speculative support. The sensex gained 68 points.

The BSE sensitive index advanced further smartly from 3864.92 to 3937.58 before closing at 3860.97 with a handsome gain of 66.74 points compared to the previous level of 3860.97. The BSE-100 index gained 28.04 points to 1655.04 from the previous level of 1683.08.

Brokers said the sentiment was boosted following fresh buying support by FIIs mainly in oil refineries shares ahead of an anticipated increase in prices of domestic petroleum products on June 15. Power and software stocks also remained bullish on FIIs support in view of bright future for these sectors. Pivotals on NSE remained higher on the first day of the weekly account, prompting operators to build up fresh market positions.

Huge auctions in front-line stocks such as ITC (1.16 lakh shares), Reliance Industries (60,000 shares), Hindustan Lever (31,900 shares) and Colgate (16,400 shares) some other stocks also contributed to the market's sharp rally.``The huge auctions show that people have been going short in the market and so bull operators will now try to trap bears.''

The total turnover was Rs 771.79 crore. SBI remained at the top with volume of Rs 159.16 crore, followed by Reliance of Rs 154.00 crore, ITC of Rs 150.50 crore, Tisco of Rs 43.64 crore and Telco of Rs 38.33 crore. Hindustan Lever gained Rs 25.25 at Rs 1246 and ITC Rs 10.25 at Rs 495.25 on specualtive support. SBI gained Rs 5.25 at Rs 319.50, Tata Steel Rs 6.25 at Rs 176.25 and Telco Rs 3.50 at Rs 401.75.

In cash, Goodlass firmed up by Rs 12.50 to Rs 230.50, Ingersoll by Rs 11.25 to Rs 391.50, Madras Cement by Rs 204.75 to Rs 6800, NIIT by Rs 14.75 to Rs 408, Ponds by Rs 58 to Rs 1479.25, Revathi CP by Rs 52 to Rs 574, Thomas Cook by Rs 33.25 to Rs 1298.75 and Wipro by Rs 11.75 to Rs 491 on buying support.

On the NSE, pivotal prices improved further on continuous buying support. The NSE-50 index closed at 1104.60 points as against its previous close of 1081.10 points, showing a gain of 23.50 points. The Midcap index closed at 1159.95 points over the last trading day's close of 1135.55 points, gaining 24.40 points. The total turnover on NSE was Rs 1612.41 crore.

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