Sensex surges 382 points; touches nearly one-and-half-month high

A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Thursday surged 382 points or 1.98 percent in sync with world markets that gained after US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said an accommodative monetary policy was needed for the US economy in near future.

The upbeat spirit helped the index clock almost a one-and-a-half-month high mark.

Almost all the sectors were trading in green, expect consumer durables. The rally was led by banking index (bankex), capital goods, oil and gas and public sector undertakings (PSU).

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 19,468.46 points, closed at 19,676.06 points, up 381.94 points or 1.98 percent from the previous day's close at 19,294.12 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 19,723.51 points and a low of 19,468.46 points intra-day.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended 2.04 percent or 118.40 points up at 5,935.10 points.

The S&P BSE bankex surged 321.58 points, metal index jumped by 224.94 points, capital goods index increased by 168.63 points, oil and gas index moved up by 154.55 points and PSU index by 103.99 points; however, consumer durables slipped by 40.72 points.

The major Sensex gainers were: Sterlite Industries, up 4.78 percent at Rs.87.70; Hindalco Industries, up 4.74 percent at Rs.102.80; HDFC Bank, up 3.32 percent at Rs.681.15; Bharti Airtel, up 3.31 percent at Rs.300; Hero MotoCorp, up 3.27 percent at Rs.1,705.65; and Coal India, up 3.21 percent at Rs.299.40.

The major losers were: Maruti Suzuki, down 2.43 percent at Rs.1,506.70; Wipro, down 0.45 percent at Rs.363.35; and Cipla, down 0.11 percent at Rs.399.55.

Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei went up by 0.39 percent; South Korean KOSPI was up by 2.93 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up by 2.55 percent and China's Shanghai Composite Index moved up by 3.23 percent.

In Europe, the London's FTSE 100 was trading 0.57 percent up; Germany's DAX Index was up by 1.05 percent and the French CAC 40 Index was up by 0.70 percent.