Markets gain momentum; Sensex zooms 400 points

The rally was led by state-owned ONGC and IT major Infosys

Markets have gained momentum in the morning trades with Sensex trading comfortably above the 26,500 mark as a broad based buying in seen among the blue chips. Firm global cues on the back of strong US GDP data indicating that the economy grew faster than initially thought in the second quarter has lifted the mood.

At 10:10 AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 412 points at 26,643 and the 50-share Nifty was up 128 points at 8,077.

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(updated at 9:35 AM)

Markets started the first day of the September series over 1% higher tracking gains in their Asian peers and overnight gains on Wall Street on the back of robust US GDP data.

At 9:35AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 315 points or 1.2% at 26,546 and the 50-share Nifty was up 99 points or 1.2% at 8,048.

The Indian rupee opened tad higher but failed to sustain gains and was trading lower at 66.10 to the US dollar compared to the previous close.

Foreign institutional investor continue to remain net sellers in equities to the tune of Rs 3,347 crore, as per provisional stock exchange data.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian shares extended a global rally on Friday after firm US economic data cheered the mood of the investors, with Chinese stocks rising for the second day following a shaky start to the week.

China's Shanghai Composite index rose 2% while Hong Kong Hang Seng index gained 0.4% and Japapn’s Nikkei gained 2.7%.

Wall Street rose overnight on the back of revised US gross domestic product data indicating the economy grew faster than initially thought in the second quarter. Dow Jones surged 2.3% and Nasdaq Composite gained 2.5%.

SECTORS & STOCKS

All sectoral indices were in the green with Realty, Metal and IT indices leading the gains.

IT exporters gained on hopes that the robust US GDP data would help boost business and improve revenues. Infosys, TCS and Wipro were up 1-2.7% each.

State-owned ONGC was the top Sensex gainer up 5.5% after the state-owned oil explorer received a one-year extension to explore in a Vietnam oil block in the contested waters of the South China Sea.

HDFC extended gains and was up 1%. The Smart City projects announced across the country would help boost demand for home loans.

Export-led pharma shares were also among the top gainers with Dr Reddy's Labs, Cipla and Sun Pharma up 0.6-1.9% each.