Monday, April 25 2005 17:09 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: The Sensex today (Apr 25, 2005) continued its upward march, completing four-session gaining streak and was up by another 31.28 points to close at 6377.85 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on sustained buying by domestic mutual funds.

Bank counters led the pack on renewed buying ahead of the announcement of RBI credit policy on April 28. Select Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) shares also attracted fresh buying support, dealers said.

Short coverings ahead of the expiry of April contract in Futures & Options (F&O) segment on Thursday partly aided the uptrend, they added.

The BSE-30 share sensitive index resumed low at 6338.67 as against last Friday's close of 6346.57 in line with subdued Wall Street advices last weekend and dipped further to a low of 6308.48. Rising international crude oil prices also dampened the sentiment at initial stage.

Thereafter, emergence of fresh buying helped the index to recover smartly and it touched a high of 6391.73 before ending at 6377.85, a net gain of 0.49 per cent.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) recorded net sales of Rs 1386.4 crore in equity for the trading week ended April 22. However, mutual funds were net buyers at Rs 346.55 crore.

Firm trend in the Asian markets at the close today also boosted the market sentiment, a broker commented.

Index-based shares like Satyam Computers, Grasim, ONGC, SBI, ICICI Bank, BHEL, HDFC, Tata Motors, Wipro, L&T, HPCL and GACL finished with smart to moderate gains on good buying support.