Sensex more than 150 points, Nifty hits 10,900-check

Mumbai, Dec 31 Continuing its winning streak for a fourth straight session Monday, the BSE benchmark Sensex surged more than 150 points as investors maintained their bullish position in early exchange on positive cues from other Asian bourses.

Strengthening rupee also supported the upward move in the domestic stock market, dealers said.

The domestic unit picked up paise 19 to 69.76 against the US dollar in morning trade.

The 30-share list rose 160.03 points, or 0.44 percent, to exchange at 36,236.75.

In similar movement, the NSE Nifty breached the 10,900 mark, and was trading 50.20 points, or 0.46 percent, higher at 10,910.10.

On Friday, the Sensex had mobilized 269.44 points or 0.75 percent to complete at 36,076.72, while the more extensive NSE Nifty spurted 80.10 points, or 0.74 percent, to 10,859.90.

Managing an account, Pharma, and IT stocks were the greatest gainers on bourses in early session. Brent unrefined, the universal benchmark, was exchanging 0.94 percent up at USD 53.71 per barrel.

Top gainers incorporate Axis Bank, M&M, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, HCL Tech, Maruti, HUL, TCS, Bharti Airtel and SBI. While NTPC, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, Power Grid and ONGC were among the top losers.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 119.60 crore Friday, while local institutional speculators (DIIs) were net purchasers to the tune of Rs 1,199.40 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei fell 0.31 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 1.4 percent, Kospi increased 0.62 percent and Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.44 percent in early trade.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average file fell 76.42 points, or 0.33 percent, to 23,062.40 in its past session.