Sensex hits 20K-level in opening trade

Sensex hits 20K-level in opening trade
 The BSE benchmark Sensex today
breached the 20,000-mark in the opening trade after two years
on sustained buying by funds, driven by better-than-expected
third quarter earnings by Tata Consultancy Services amid mixed
Asian cues.
 The 30-share index, however, immediately slipped to
19,938.01 on profit-booking, still up by 31.60 points, or 0.16
per cent, from yesterday's close.
 It touched a high of 20,007.09 by gaining over 100 points
in opening trade, led by gains in IT, tech and consumer
durables sector stocks.
 Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index
Nifty inched up by 3.35 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 6,027.40.
 Brokers said sustained buying by funds and retail
investors after country's largest software exporter TCS
posted 26.7 per cent jump in net profit for the October-
December quarter buoyed the trading sentiment here.
 Stocks of TCS shot up by 3 per cent to Rs 1,374.35, while
Wipro gained 0.67 per cent to Rs 420.70.
 Besides, a mixed trend in the Asian region also influenced
the sentiment, they said.
 Meanwhile in the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed
0.26 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei was up 1.26 per cent in
early trade today. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended
0.14 per cent higher in yesterday's trade.