Sensex soars 275 points, post Fed minutes

Stocks continued to see buying interest from investors as the benchmark BSE Sensex rallied 275 points, led by short covering on strong global cues. What supported the upbeat mood was expectations that US Fed may take care in tightening rates after a likely December lift-off.

Sustained buying was seen in auto, IT, banking, capital goods, technology and FMCG stocks while healthcare saw some mild selling.

The 30-share index resumed higher at 25,640.34 and surged to 25,770.13 before quoting at 25,757.66, a jump of 275.14 points, or 1.08 per cent, at 1128 hours. The NSE Nifty were also trading up at 78.90 points, or 1.02 per cent, at 7,810.70 at 1128 hours.

Hero MotoCorp hit a sweet spot, up 4.17 per cent, followed by Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank, Maruti and Infosys. However, Dr Reddy's fell 2 per cent.

Meanwhile, provisional data showed that oreign portfolio investors (FPIs) stayed in exit mode as they net sold shares worth Rs 768.46 crore yesterday.

Asian stocks surged after the US Fed minutes of the October meeting backed bets of a rate increase in December, which effectively is a vote of confidence in the health of the world's largest economy and a boon for the banking sector. US stocks closed higher yesterday as investors appeared positively inclined towards higher rates after minutes also showed senior officials rallied behind a possible December rate hike.