The indices ended firm for the second consecutive day, mirroring the strength globally.
The Sensex traded in a narrow band of 100 points through most of the day before ending at 17584, higher by 75 points, and the NSE Nifty gained 25 points at 5259. The energy and consumer durables pack caught the investor's fancy.
The US markets gained overnight, with the Dow adding 53 points and Nasdaq gaining 26 points. Asian markets ended firm; the key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Japan South Korea rose 0.33%-1.35%.
Meanwhile, the wholesale inflation leapt to 7.31 per cent in December, shooting past RBI's forecast of 6.5 per cent-level by this fiscal end, as food items such as sugar, potatoes and pulses turned costlier. The overall inflation in November was 4.78 per cent.
The government is taking measures to tame inflation, Kaushik Basu, the chief economic adviser at the finance ministry said.
Reliance Communication was the leading gainer on the BSE, strengthening by 4% at Rs 182. Wipro ended 3.6% up at Rs 741 and Reliance overcame its recent sluggishness to gain 2.9% at Rs 1120.
Cement stocks continued their good run from the previous day, with ACC and Grasim gaining almost a per cent each.
Tech stocks, which have been running hard and fast after the Infosys; ended the day on a mixed note. While infosys gave company to Wipro in the gainers list, TCS saw some profit-booking.
On the other hand, Hindustan Unilever (weakened by 2.8% at Rs 256), Tata Power (lost 2.2% at Rs 1455) and Reliance Infrastructure (closed lower by 1.2% at Rs 1124) were the top losers on the Sensex.
The realty and banking sectors were weighed down by lingering fears on the monetary policy front. DLF, HDFC and SBI lost about a per cent each.
The market breadth was strong. Out of 2974 stocks traded on the BSE, there were 1920 advancing stocks as against 982 declines.
The US markets gained overnight, with the Dow adding 53 points and Nasdaq gaining 26 points. And Asian markets ended firm; the key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Japan South Korea rose 0.33%-1.35%.
Meanwhile, the wholesale inflation leaped to 7.31 per cent in December, shooting past RBI's forecast of 6.5 per cent-level by this fiscal end, as food items such as sugar, potatoes and pulses turned costlier. The overall inflation in November was 4.78 per cent.
The government is taking measures to tame inflation, Kaushik Basu, the chief economic adviser at the finance ministry said.
Reliance Communication was the leading gainer on the BSE, strengthening by 4% at Rs 182. Wipro ended 3.6% up at Rs 741 and Reliance overcame its recent sluggishness to gain 2.9% at Rs 1120.
Cement stocks continued their good run from the previous day, with ACC and Grasim gaining almost a per cent each.
Tech stocks, which have been running fast after the Infosys; ended the day on a mixed note. While infosys gave company to Wipro in the gainers list, TCS saw some profit-booking.
On the other hand, Hindustan Unilever (weakened by 2.8% at Rs 256), Tata Power (lost 2.2% at Rs 1455) and Reliance Infrastructure (shed 1.2% at Rs 1124) were the top losers on the Sensex.
And the realty and banking sectors were weighed down by lingering fears on the monetary policy front, with DLF, HDFC and SBI losing about a per cent each.
The market breadth was strong. Out of 2974 stocks traded on the BSE, there were 1920 advancing stocks as against 982 declines.
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