It was a strong close for markets ending near the highest point of the day and crossing some significant levels on the back of boost from Asian markets. However, the rallly was on slightly thinish volumes and even on the F&O side the markets are light. The midacp and smallcap indices ended higher giving markets an excellent breadth, but did not outperform the frontline indices Sensex and Nifty.

Leadership came in from alot of sectors. All the BSE sector indices endede in green, leading the rally were metal and banking stocks. In the metal sector steel continued the uptrend and was the star performer and Tata Steel was the top gainer up nearly 6%. Apart from banking and metal FMCG, capital goods and IT index outperformed the Sensex.

Tata Steel, ITC, Reliance Comm, Maruti Udyog and Grasim were the top gainers on the Sensex.

The Sensex closed near 13,200 levels and the Nifty near 3850 levels. Sensex was up 321.66 points or 2.50% at 13177.74, and the Nifty up 91.50 points or 2.44% at 3843.5.

About 1885 shares have advanced, 597 shares declined, and 68 shares are unchanged.

Tata Steel, ITC, Reliance Comm, Maruti Udyog and Grasim were the top gainers on the Sensex

The BSE Midcap Index ended at 5,419.65 up 99.7 points or 1.87%.

The BSE Smallcap Index ended at 6,585.37 up 129 points or 2%.

The BSE Bankex was up 3.8% at 6,580.99. UTI Bank, Kotak Mahindra, Bank of Baroda, SBI, PNB moved upwards.

The BSE Capital Goods Index was up 3.9% at 9,213.99. Praj Industries, Aban Offshore, Siemens, Bharat Elec, Alstom Projects closed higher.

The BSE Health Care Index was up 1% at 3,685.90. Divis Labs, Wockhardt, Orchid Chemical, Biocon, Wyeth closed higher.

The BSE Auto Index closed at 4,683.91 up 1.7%. Maruti Udyog, Tube Investment, Escorts, Sundram, Hind Motors surged.

The BSE Metal Index closed at 8,905.01 up 3.3%. Guj NRE Coke, Tata Steel, SAIL, Hind Zinc, Hindalco advanced higher.

The BSE FMCG Index gained 3.1% at 1,774.04. ITC, Nestle, United Spirits, HLL closed higher.

BSE Oil and Gas Index closed higher at 6,495.91 up 2%. Petronet LNG, BPCL, ONGC, HPCL, Reliance Natura ended in green.

The BSE IT Index gained 2.3% at 4,930.55. Patni Computer, Infosys, Hexaware Tech, HCL Tech, Wipro closed higher.

The NSE cash turnover was at Rs 6279.22 crore and the NSE F&O turnover was at Rs 23575.75 crore. The BSE cash turnover was Rs 3082.92 crore. Total market wide turnover was at Rs 32937.89 crore.

Markets Today:

• Markets rally led by buying across sector
• Sensex closes above 13100; gains 2.50% or 321.66 at 13177.74
• Nifty closes above 3,800; gains 2.44% or 91.50 points at 3843.5
• All BSE Sectoral Indices end in the green; Metals, Bank Indices Lead
• BSE Bank Index up 3.28%; SBI up 4.26%, HDFC Bank up 3%, PNB up 3.78%
• BSE Metal Index up 3.26%; Tata Steel up 6%, SAIL, Hindalco up 2.7% each
• Index Gainers; Rel Comm up 4.95%, ITC up 4.79%, Grasim up 4.59%
• CNX Midcap Index up 1.86%; SRF up 17%, Indiabulls up 11.4%, UTI Bank up 10.6%
• Realty Stocks: Parsvnath Up 7%, IBREL up 4.85%
• BSE Small-cap Index up 2%; Hyderabad Ind up 20% for second day running
• NSE Advance Decline ratio at 9:2
• Market turnover at Rs 32937.89 cr Vs Rs 35074.25 cr on Thursday