Sensex surges 451 points

A benchmark index of Indian equities markets ended 451 points or 2.21 percent up Monday on increased foreign fund buying and easing of concerns about withdrawal of the US stimulus.

All the sectors traded in the green. The rally was led by the banking index (bankex), capital goods, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), oil and gas, IT and auto sectors.

The 30-scrip S&P Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 20,570.59 points, closed at 20,850.74 points, up 451.32 points or 2.21 percent from its previous day close at 20,399.42 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 20,868.76 points and a low of 20,570.59 points intra-day.

The S&P BSE bankex surged 388.48 points, capital goods index augmented by 283.65 points, FMCG index gained 162.58 points, oil and gas index went up by 196.58 points, IT index increased by 114.69 points and auto index inched up by 143.75 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed trade 132.85 points or 2.19 percent up at 6,189 points.

Major Sensex gainers were: HDFC Bank, up 4.15 percent at Rs.668.55; Larsen & Toubro, up 3.90 percent at Rs.976.10; ITC, up 3.61 percent at Rs.325.75; Hindalco Industries, up 3.34 percent at Rs.118.95 and ONGC, up 3.22 percent at Rs.2,78.90 and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, up 3.06 percent at Rs.139.85.

The main losers were: SSTL, down 1.36 percent at Rs.188.45 and Coal India, down 1.15 percent at Rs.270.95.

Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.01 percent down; while China's Shanghai Composite Index was up by 2.87 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up by 2.73 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was trading 0.33 percent up, Germany's DAX Index was up 0.53 percent and the French CAC 40 Index was up by 0.42 percent.