Record gains for Sensex in 17 years

Stock indices rose, with the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index, or the Sensex, posting its highest weekly gain in 17 years.

The markets started the week on a extraordinary note, with the Sensex hitting the upper circuit twice in the day on Monday, and finally trading was suspended for the days with just few seconds of trade.

Over the week, the benchmark index gained 14.08 per cent, which is the sharpest since the week ended March 27, 1992. It has also risen for 11 consecutive weeks for the first time since August 2005. During these 11 weeks the index has gained a whopping 66.80 per cent (5,561 points) since the week ended March 6, 2009.

Among the index stocks - Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Communications zoomed 37% and 36%, respectively. Tata Steel, SBI, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Motors, DLF and ONGC surged 29-34% each.

Jaiprakash Associates, Mahindra & Mahindra, ICICI Bank, BHEL, HDFC Bank, NTPC, Tata Power and ACC were the other major gainers.

However, the tech stocks did not participate in the market rally. Infosys shed nearly 5% at Rs 1,519. TCS and Wipro declined around 2% each.