The Sensex closed strongly on Monday on account of firm global signals, optimistic earnings and aggressive buying witnessed across the board.

IT stocks were in public interest followed by real estate, banking and oil & gas stocks, while FMCG stocks went down.

The 30-share index opened the day on a higher note after gaining 109.25 points at 14,854.17.

After that, Sensex gained momentum and hit the psychological mark of 15,000 on strong buying activity. The index also touched an intraday high of 15,209.36.   

Secondline stocks traded higher today. BSE Midcap and Smallcap index rose 2.54% and 2.52% respectively.

Among the sectoral indices, BSE IT climbed 7.26%, real estate, technology and bankex zoomed more than 4% each, oil & gas surged 3.66%, metal and capital goods rose over 2% each, while FMCG fell 0.49%.

Finally, the Sensex closed the day at 15,191.01, up 446.09 points, whereas the broad-based NSE Nifty gained 127.30 points at 4,502.25.

The top gainers in the 30-share index included TCS up 15.34%, Wipro up 7.14%, ICICI Bank up 6.01%, Infosys up 5.66%, DLF up 5.38% and Hindalco up 5.05%.

While commenting on the market outlook for July 21, 2009, Alex Mathews head, research centre – Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services stated the major resistance for Nifty is at 4,525 and 4,575, while it has support at 4,450 and 4,446 levels.

Mr. Mathew also said that investors should be cautious at higher levels as the stock market has entered the over bought region. (dpa)