Sensex rises 119 pts to nearly three-week high;IT, banks shine

Tracking overnight gains on the Wall Street, the benchmark Sensex today jumped by 119 points to nearly three-week high levels on the back of gains in IT and banking shares amid heavy capital inflows.
After rising 41.88 points in the previous session, the Sensex spurted by 118.99 points, or 0.56 per cent, to end at 21,193.58, a level last seen on December 10. Eighteen constituents of the 30-share index rose.
Gains in IT pack -- TCS, Infosys and Wipro -- contributed over 71 points in the Sensex's 119-point rise. Bets on software exporters rose after a decline in US jobless claims data cemented hopes of a turnaround in the American economy.

Bluechips in the financial space including HDFC, ICICI Bank and SBI also saw good buying. Others like ITC, HUL, L&T, Sun Pharma and Sesa Sterlite also ended in green.
Brokers said that investors were seen in the mood of portfolio building in the ensuing year after the monthly equity derivatives for December 2013 expired yesterday.
On a weekly basis, the Sensex rose by 113.86 points.

The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose by 34.90 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 6,313.80 after touching the day's high of 6,324.90. Also, SX40 of MCX Stock Exchange firmed up by 61.33 points to end at 12,594.59.

FIIs pumped over Rs 743 crore yesterday in cash market.
Mirroring the rise in local stocks, the rupee was trading strong at 61.8 versus dollar compared to last close of 62.16.
Yesterday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 122.33 points, or 0.75 per cent to close at 16,480. The S&P 500 made its 44th record close for this year after adding 8.7 points.
Sectorally, the BSE IT sector index gained the most by rising 1.71 per cent, followed by Healthcare index (0.68 per cent), FMCG index (0.58 per cent), and Banking index (0.52 per cent).