Benchmark indices on Thursday closed on a firm note, despite choppiness towards the fag end of the day, ahead of the expiry of October 2007 derivatives contracts. The 30-share Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) closed the day with gains of 257.98 points, or 1.39% to close at 18,770.89 points. The Sensex had opened marginally higher at 18,519.23 points and then rose to strike an intra-day high of 18,900.10 points in late afternoon trade. Asian markets too ended on a positive note.
Meanwhile, the broader S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed the day at 5,568.95 points, 72.80 points up or 1.32%, over the pervious days close.
The Nifty November 2007 futures settled at 5,531 points, a discount of 37.95 points as compared to the spot closing.
The market breadth was also strong on the BSE as 1,552 shares advanced as opposed to 1,147 declines while 71 remained unchanged. The total turnover on the BSE was at Rs 7,976 crore as compared to Rs 7,997 crore on Wednesday. The NSE F&O turnover was at Rs 1,03,930.17 crore as compared to Rs 1,07,495.25 crore on Wednesday.
The BSE Mid-cap index and the BSE Small-cap under performed the Sensex. The BSE Mid-cap index rose by 1.31% or 100.24 to close at 7,750.93 points while the BSE Small-cap index gained 1.35% or 124.70 points to end at 9,367.08 points.