Sensex closes 279 points up on strong global cues


Sensex closes 279 points up on strong global cues
Mumbai: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex surged for the second day on Thursday adding 279 points on heavy buying in banking, auto and refinery stocks in line with firming Asian and European markets. The 30-share Sensex, which had rallied 365 points in the previous session, jumped further by 278.56 points to close at 16,666.40 points.Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty regained the 5,000 points level by gaining 85.70 points to 5,003.10 points. The chart showing the 52 week performance of Sensex is on the left. Brokers said a firming trend in the Asian region and a higher opening in European stock markets this afternoon boosted the trading sentiment on domestic front.Investors adjusting their pending short positions on the last day of monthly derivatives contracts also added to the rally, they said. The gauge touched the day's high of 16,694.55 but eased as foreign funds dumped shares. FIIs have sold shares worth $2.3 billion so far in May, their biggest pullout since October 2008, on concerns over debt crisis in Europe. Among the 30 BSE index stocks, 26 stocks gained. All the sectoral indices closed higher with gains up to 2.55 percent. Market leader Reliance Industries shot up by 1.44 percent to Rs 1,021.85 and the second-heaviest Infosys by 0.95 percent to Rs 2,643.45. HDFC Bank rose by 3.78 percent to Rs 1,894.95 and HDFC by 2.37 percent to Rs 2,754.45. All the four carry nearly 34 per cent weightage on the index. The banking sector index gained the most rising 2.55 percent to 10,511.40, followed by the auto sector index by 2.10 percent to 7,449.22. The oil and gas index rose by 2.09 percent to 9,932.42 and the realty sector index by 1.70 percent to 3,006.11. Among Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei rose 1.23 percent, Hong Kong by 1.22 percent and China's Shanghai by 1.15 percent. In European region, London's FTSE opened up by 2.15 percent.
Source: PTI