Sensex zooms 600 points; hits new all-time high

ICICI Bank, RIL and HDFC among top gainers

Benchmark indices galloped over 2.5% as blue-chips especially the banking and financial shares soared on hopes of an NDA-led  victory in the ongoing elections.

Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), Axis Bank and Coal India from the BSE 30-share Sensex hit their respective 52-week highs.

At 1350 hrs, the 30-share Sensex zoomed 604 points at 22,956 and the Nifty was up 183 points at 6843.

However, the broader markets underperformed. Smallcap index added 0.7% and the midcap index advanced 1% in noon deals.

Buying was visible across the sectors with banks, realty and metal scrips being the preferred ones. The respective indices were up nearly 3% each.

Auto, Power and Oil & Gas indices up 2% each were the other major sectoral gainers.

Health Care and Consumer Durables were the only laggards. Dr Reddys Lab down nearly 1% was the only loser among the Sensex-30 pack.

Hindalco, Coal India, ICICI Bank, Tata Power, HDFC, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Steel up 3.5-5% were the major gainers.

The market breadth was positive on BSE. 1,433 stocks advanced while 1,010 stocks declined.

Asian Markets

Asian shares were mostly down on Friday as a tense situation in Ukraine made investors cautious, though markets took a tame Chinese inflation report in their stride despite the implications for weakening demand in the region's economic powerhouse.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.1%, on track for a slight weekly loss, but off session lows after data showed China's inflation in April was broadly in line with expectations.

Chinese consumer prices rose 1.8% in April from a year earlier while producer prices fell 2.0%. While the figures were in line with forecasts, it was still the slowest rise for consumer prices in 18 months as producer deflation persisted, underscoring sluggish demand.

The Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.3%, poised to fall 0.8% on the week.

Japan's Nikkei stock average erased earlier losses and ended up 0.3%, though it still posted a weekly loss of 1.8%.