Source: IRIS

MUMBAI: Key indices shot up in the last hour of trading triggered by heavy institutional buying, ahead of the expiry of the September series future contracts on Thursday.

"The market-wide limit of many stocks in the derivatives segment on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) had gone below the 80 per cent limit after the recent unwinding, which resulted in the frenzied buying," said Dipesh Bhatt, dealer, Dhan Stock and Sharebrokers.

Margins, which are payable on all futures contracts, double, if the open positions in a particular scrip touch 80 per cent of the market-wide limit.

The BSE`s 30-share Sensex closed at 4,231.69, up 79.97points or 1.93 per cent, after hitting the intra-day low of 4,111.54.

The NSE`s 50-share S&P CNX Nifty finished at 1,328.2, up 25.30 points or 1.94 per cent, over Monday`s close of 1,302.9.

Among the Sensex stocks, advances led declines 25:5. The broader market also tilted in favour of the bulls, as advances outnumbered declines 976:774, across categories at the BSE.

Auto stocks rode higher all day today. Among the leading gainers, Tata Motors spurted 7.51 per cent to Rs 292.60 and Hero Honda gained 2.81 per cent to Rs 288.80 at the BSE today.

FMCG counters Hindustan Lever (+3.75 % to Rs181.15) and ITC (+1.52% at Rs 792.05), which were among the top losers on Monday, resulted in the spurt in the Sensex. Reliance Industries (+2.94% at Rs 414.75) also contributed to the Sensex gains.

Frontline cement stocks extended Monday`s gains on hopes that the cement prices would firm up, post monsoon, after the construction activity picks up.

Pharma stocks ended on a mixed note today, with Dr Reddy`s and Ranbaxy closing lower. Investment bank Merrill Lynch, in a report dated September 22, downgraded the pharma sector to `neutral` from `buy,` citing fair valuations and absence of near term triggers as the reasons.

Majority of the technology stocks closed higher, with HCL Infosystems hitting the 20 per cent upper circuit of Rs 261.75 at the BSE after the company witnessed a 167 per cent jump in net profits for the fourth quarter ended June 30, 2003.