Mumbai: Opinion poll predictions that the BJP-led NDA (National Democratic Alliance) would get wafer-thin majority, continued to cheer up the sentiment for the second straight day at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today (May 5, 2004) as share prices rallied further, lifting the Sensex up by 39.04 points to close at 5686.19.

The opinion poll predictions generated increased buying by operators who covered their short positions and even made fresh commitments, dealers said.

Buying was in most of the index-based counters like ACC, Bharti Tele, Grasim, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Hero Honda, Infosys Tech, L&T, ONGC, REL, SBI, Tata Motors, Tisco, Wipro and Tata Power which finished with marked to moderate gains, helping the Sensex to complete two-day gaining streak.

The BSE-30 share sensitive index opened firm at 5665.67 and remained in positive territory throughout the day with moving in a range between 5695.18 and 5648.64 before ending at 5686.19 as against yesterday's close of 5647.15, a net rise of 0.69 per cent.

The broad-based BSE-100 also rose by 20.25 points to close at 3038.66 from previous close of 3019.78.

Cement counters continued their northward journey on investment buying while banking stock attracted heavy profit selling by operators, erasing most of the initial gains.

IT shares also attracted investors attention and most of the second-line stocks registered sharp to moderate gains on good buying from foreign funds.