Indian share market scale new heights

New Delhi, Jan 4 The Key Indian stock market shares zipped to their highest-ever levels Friday on the back of some active buying across several counters and renewed interest ahead of a mega initial offering by Reliance Power.

In the process, the sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) rose to a historic intra-day peak of 20,762.80 points, before ending the day at 20,686.89 - also a record close for the barometer index.

At Friday's closing level, the 30-share index had gained 341.69 points, or 1.68 percent, against the previous day's close at 20,345.20, data with the exchange showed.

The gainers and losers among Sensex stocks, however, were evenly matched, with 16 logging advances, and the remaining 14 ending with losses. At a broader level, 1,470 shares declined, 1,437 advanced and 17 remained unchanged.

The broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was also up 1.55 percent at 6,274.30 points after scaling an all-time peak of 6,300.05 points against the previous close of 6,178.55.

Consumer durable stocks were the flavour of Friday, with the specific index for such stocks at the BSE registering a 2.56 percent jump, followed by a rise of 2.31 percent in the oil and gas index.

The index for power was also up on account of the interest generated by the upcoming public issue by Reliance Power, owned by Anil Dhirubhai Ambani-led Reliance Energy.

While banking stocks also moved by 2.01 percent, those for automobiles declined 0.73 percent. IT stocks also went down by 1.02 percent and healthcare by 0.07 percent.