Sensex gains momentum, rallies 508 pts in late morning trade

Market benchmark Sensex gained further in late morning deals and was up by 508 points amid all-round buying in frontline shares led by metal, realty, capital goods, industrials, energy and bank sectors.
The second-line, mid-cap and small-cap shares, also witnessed heavy buying.
Despite caution in view of muted macroeconomic data, investors resorted to buying from oversold positions amid firm Asian cues.
The BSE Sensex opened higher at 23,223.43 and moved in a range of 23,497.43 to 23,197.67 before quoting 23,494.05 at 1100 hours, gaining 507.93 points or 2.21 per cent.
The NSE Nifty was also trading higher well above 7,000-level by 163.50 points or 2.34 per cent to 7,144.45.

Major gainers were Tata Steel 9.13 per cent, SBI 6.74 per cent, Adani Ports 6.69 per cent, L&T 5.34 per cent, Axis Bank 5.12 per cent, Lupin 4.69 per cent, Coal India 4.02 per cent, ICICI Bank 3.71 per cent and RIL 3.58 per cent.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth Rs 398.37 crore on Friday.
Overseas, Asian markets were mostly higher tracking strong finish on Wall Street last Friday. However, China's Shanghai Composite was down 1.57 per cent as trading resumed there after a week long holiday.