Sensex surges 351 points on easing inflation numbers

A benchmark index of Indian equities market Friday closed 1.86 percent or almost 351 points up as headline inflation eased to over a three-year low.

The country's main inflation indicator based on Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was recorded at 4.89 percent in April and 7.55 percent in the corresponding month of last year.

Good buying was seen in sectors like consumer durables, auto, metal, capital goods, oil and gas and banking index (bankex).

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 18,959.83 points, closed at 19,177.93 points, up 350.77 points or 1.86 percent from its previous day's close at 18,827.16 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 19,213.10 points and a low of 18,952.09 points in intra-day trade.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended 1.92 percent or 109.30 points up at 5,808.40 points.

The S&P BSE consumer durables index increased by 223.88 points, while the auto index shot up by 312.32 points, metal index increased 193.52 points, capital goods index inched up 215.94 points, oil and gas index moved 192.76 points up, bankex edged 266.04 points up.

The prominent Sensex gainers were: Hindalco Industries, up 7.07 percent at Rs.103.70; Tata Motors, up 4.91 percent at Rs.296.90; Maruti Suzuki, up 4.09 percent at Rs.1515.05; Tata Power, up 3.72 percent at Rs.80.95 ; L&T, up 3.41 percent at Rs.1440.40; Bajaj Auto, up 3.23 percent at Rs.1763.25; and ICICI Bank, up 3.16 percent at Rs.1101.60.

The main losers were: Wipro, down 0.71 percent at Rs.337.65; Hero MotoCorp, down 0.41 percent at Rs.1602.30; Cipla, down 0.24 percent at Rs.377.95; and Hindustan Unilever, down 0.24 percent at Rs.593.30.

Other Asian markets also moved up. The Japanese Nikkei was up by 1.94 percent; Chinese Hang Seng by 0.39 percent, Korean KOSPI by 0.35 percent and Strait Times Index of Singapore up by 0.98 percent.

In Eurozone, the FTSE 100 of London was trading 0.09 percent down; while the German DAX Index and French CAC 40 were up by 0.49 percent and 0.23 percent, respectively.