Sensex crosses 23,000 points; bank stocks rally (Roundup)

A benchmark index of Indian equities markets surged more than 650 points Friday to touch a new life-time high of 23,048.49 points on the back of bazaar optimism that Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would be able to form a stable government post general elections that end next week.

This is the first time that the 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) crossed 23,000 points in its history so far. The last record high was on April 23 when the index touched 22,912.52 points.

The Sensex, which opened at 22,374.98 points, ended the trade at 22,994.23 points, up 650.19 points or 2.91 percent from the previous day's close at 22,344.04 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 23,048.49 points and a low of 22,317.18 points in intra-day trade.

The rally was led by the banking, capital goods, oil and gas, auto and metal sectors, while marginal selling pressure was seen in healthcare and consumer durables sector.

The S&P BSE bankex gained 796.55 points, capital goods surged by 406.44 points, oil and gas index moved up by 336.16 points, automobile index got augmented by 334.83 points and metal index went up by 316.22 points.

However, healthcare index lost 60.31 points and consumer durables index slipped by 2.22 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also touched a new life-time high of 6,871.35 points from its previous record of 6,861.60 points. It closed the trade up 198.95 points or 2.99 percent and was trading at 6,858.80 points.

The major Sensex gainers were: ICICI Bank, up 6.63 percent at Rs.1,374.85; Tata Power, up 5.57 percent at Rs.80.55; Hindalco Inds, up 5.53 percent at Rs.143.75; HDFC Bank, down 5.31 percent at Rs.757.20; and BHEL, up 5.21 percent at Rs.193.85.

The main losers were: Dr Reddy's Lab, down 0.84 percent at Rs.2,715.65; Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), down 0.19 percent at Rs.2,161.20; and Sun Pharma, down 0.13 percent at Rs.623.90.

Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.25 percent up while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was higher by 0.12 percent. However, China's Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.21 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was trading 0.34 percent down and the French CAC 40 Index fell 0.34 percent, while Germany's DAX Index lost by 0.67 percent.