News: Indian shares hit 12,000 mark

(RTR 20/04/2006) Mumbai - India's benchmark share index topped 12,000 points for the first time on Thursday, buoyed by strong earnings and robust foreign fund inflows.

Shares in oil refiner and petrochemical producer Reliance Industries Ltd., which have a weight of about 10 percent in the main index, led the rally rising more than 7 percent to record 995 rupees.

The 30-share BSE index rose nearly 1 percent to 12,004.30 points.

"Reliance Industries has clearly led the rise today, and investors are confident because of the fund flows into the market," said Dipen Sanghavi at Pranav Securities.

The BSE index has gained more than 27 percent this year, helped by foreign fund investments of $3.5 billion.