Date:21/12/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/12/21/stories/2007122160692000.htm

Business

IT stocks lead rally

MUMBAI: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Thursday gained 71 points on the back of a strong rally in IT stocks, showing signs of a gradual recovery amid sustained foreign institutional investor (FII) pullout and mixed global trend.

The close above the 19066 crucial support-level for the second consecutive day was a positive sign and indicated a likely technical bounce, analysts said. They, however, strongly feel that a close below this level would trigger heavy sell-off, resulting in another sharp downward correction.

The BSE barometer closed at 19162.57, a net rise of 70.61 points over Wednesday’s close of 19201.07, after moving in a fairly wide range of 19291.14 and 19097.70.

Rupee moves up

The rupee on Thursday closed at 39.54/55 against the U.S. currency, up five paise over the previous close of 39.59/60 on the back of a smart recovery in equity markets amid expectations of capital inflows. In fairly active trading at the interbank foreign exchange market, the Indian currency was trapped in a range of 39.51 and 39.60 after resuming firm at 39.54/55. — PTI