Mumbai: Shares of public sector undertakings (PSUs) continued to be in limelight scoring impressive gains and in turn, pushed the SENSEX remarkably up by about 37 points at close on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on February 14 following fresh support by speculators as well as foreign funds.

The BSE Benchmark 30-share Index opened firm at 3544.32 and later moved irregularly in a small range between 3564.35 and 3536.35 before ending at 3557.06 as against close of 3519.87 on February 13, netting a rise of 37.19 points or 1.06 per cent. The broad-based BSE-100 Index also rose by 24.16 points to 1738.71 from previous close of 1714.55.

Impressed by a smooth and fast process of acquisition of leading PSU, VSNL, indicating the government's commitments to privatisation, speculators have turned their attention to this sector and are believed to have made sizeable purchases in key stocks like BHEL, MTNL, Shipping Corp, Indian Oil and HPCL.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) was the day's star performer having rallied further sharply on hopes of announcement of higher dividend in the light of reports that the government has sought Rs 10,000 crore from ONGC as dividend, which makes a dividend of Rs 70 per share.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs), which have been consistent net buyers since Feb 6, making a net investment of Rs 533 crore till February 12, reportedly made fresh purchases. The revival of FII activity was partly attributed to a sharp rally on Wall Street in the past couple of days.

The NASDAQ composite index finished higher by 24.95 points and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced to 125.93 points on February 13.

PTI