Sensex soars 400 pts to regain 23,000-mark in early trade

Market benchmark Sensex zoomed over 400 points to rise above 23,000-mark in early trade today following widespread gains as investors widened their bets amid a firming trend in other Asian markets.
However, caution prevailed in view of muted macroeconomic data.
The 30-share index, which gained 34.29 points in the previous session, added 404.23 points or 1.75 per cent to 23,390.358 with all the sectoral indices led by metal, realty and oil&gas leading the gains.
The NSE Nifty reclaimed the 7,100-mark by climbing 130.55 points, or 1.87 per cent, at 7,111.50.
Brokers said a flurry of buying by investors in blue-chips available at an attractive levels amid a firming trend at other Asian markets, tracking weakened gains at the US markets, mainly influenced the sentiment.

Meanwhile, industrial production declined for the second month in a row, registering negative growth of 1.3 per cent in December, while retail inflation in January rises marginally to 5.69 per cent from 5.61 per cent in December.
Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was trading higher by 2.62 per cent, while Nikkei surged by 5.12 per cent in early trade as investors shrugged off a contraction in Japan's economy during the final quarter of 2015. Shanghai's Composite index, however, was down 1.57 points.
The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 2 per cent higher on Friday.