Sensex rises for second day, up 104 points on strong global cues.

Rising for the second day in a row, the benchmark BSE Sensex Tuesday jumped over 104 points to 25,864.47, helped by value-buying in beaten-down stocks and a firm global trend after concerns about impact of Paris attacks receded.

Covering-up of short positions by speculators added to the gains, traders said.

Sentiment took a turn for the better after Asian and European stocks rose across the board following a strong close on Wall Street overnight as investors covered up losses following last week's deadly Paris terror attacks.

Participants, however, remained cautious in view of muted September earnings by several blue-chip companies while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have been net sellers so far this month.

Marked by volatility, the 30-share Sensex after shuttling between 25,948.20 and 25,732.79, finally settled 104.37 points, or 0.41 percent, higher at 25,864.47.

The gauge had gained 149.57 points in the previous session.

The 50-share NSE Nifty closed at 7,837.55, up 30.95 points, or 0.40 percent. Intra-day, it hovered between 7,860.45 and 7,793.

GAIL was among the stars as it closed up 4.04 percent at Rs 306.55, followed by ITC (2.91 percent) at Rs 348.15.

The country's biggest private lender, ICICI Bank, after rising over 2 percent ended 0.06 percent higher after the company said it will sell 6 percent stake in its life insurance arm, ICICI Prudential Life, for Rs 1,950 crore.

Gains in Vedanta Ltd, Tata Steel, Hindalco, HDFC Ltd, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, Hindustan Unilever, ONGC, Cipla, M&M, NTPC and TCS too supported the upside.

Among the 30-Sensex constituents, 20 stocks ended with gains while 10 led by Infosys, Dr Reddy's, Axis Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, RIL, Lupin and L&T fell.

Sector-wise, BSE FMCG index gained most by rising 2.17 percent, followed by metal (1.03 percent), healthcare (0.79 percent), auto (0.55 percent) and power (0.34 percent).

The broader markets too displayed a firm trend as investors strengthened their bets as the BSE small-cap index rose 0.47 percent and mid-cap gained 0.31 percent.

Sugar stocks remained in the spotlight for yet another session amid a global rally in sugar prices.

In the sugar segment, Shree Renuka Sugars, EID Parry, Bajaj Hindusthan and Mawana Sugar soared up to 19.24 percent.

Meanwhile, foreign investors sold shares worth Rs 1,051.26 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.

Gold price at 4-month low, tumbles Rs 450 to Rs 25,700 per 10 grams

Gold prices on Tuesday plunged by Rs 450 to trade at almost four-month low of Rs 25,700 per 10 grams at the bullion market, tracking a weak global trend amid subdued demand from jewellers and retailers.

Silver also fell sharply by Rs 500 to Rs 34,100 per kg on reduced offtake by industrial users and coin makers.

Apart from slackened demand from jewellers and retailers, a weak global trend where gold traded near the lowest level in over five years on expectations that the US Federal Reserve will soon hike interest rates, has cut demand for the precious metal as a safe-haven, leading to fall in prices.

Gold in Singapore, which normally determines price trend on the domestic front, dropped by 0.4 percent, to USD 1,078.07 an ounce today, while it ended 0.17 percent down at USD 1,082.10 an ounce in New York in yesterday's trade.

In the national capital, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 percent purity tumbled by Rs 450 each to Rs 25,700 and Rs 25,550 per 10 grams, respectively, a level last seen on July 20. It had gained Rs 235 in yesterday's trade.

Sovereign, however, continued to be asked at previous level of Rs 22,200 per piece of eight grams.

In tune with gold, silver ready fell by Rs 500 to Rs 34,100 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs 620 to Rs 33,640 per kg.

Meanwhile, silver coins remained flat at Rs 48,000 for buying and Rs 49,000 for selling of 100 pieces.