Sensex surges 283 pts on govt steps to check Rupee slide

Stock markets today gave a thumbs up to the slew of measures announced by the government to arrest the rupee fall and check current account gap with S&P BSE benchmark Sensex jumping by 283 points on heavy buying in Realty, Banking, Auto and IT sectors.
Sensex, which had gained 282 points in the past two sessions, closed at 19,229.84 clocking a rise of 282.86 points -- its best daily gain in a month.
Leading the charge, IT giant Infosys rose to over 2-year high on optimism that a weak rupee will boost revenues. Rupee was last trading near 61 levels against dollar.

Among Sensex components, 25 stocks gained while five ended with losses. The realty sector index gained the most (4.46 per cent) followed by banking index (2.92 per cent).
"Today's rally was partly due to some bottom-fishing and optimism on the rupee after Government announced measures to control the CAD. The Government has increased import and excise duties on Gold, Silver and Platinum," said Sanjeev Zarbade, Vice President - PCG Research, Kotak Securities.
Brokers said better earnings by some front-runner stocks like Hindalco, M&M and DLF also boosted market sentiment.

Investor wealth surged by Rs 77,000 crore to Rs 62.40 lakh crore as 1,444 stocks advanced on the BSE platform.

The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose 86.90 points, or 1.55 per cent, to close at 5,699.30.
SX40 index, the flagship index of MCX-SX, closed at 11408.14, up 149.2 points, or 1.33 per cent.
Better trends in the Asian region and higher opening in Euroean markets helped domestic markets cement gains.
The second heavy-weight on the Sensex - Infosys - shot up by 2.65 per cent to Rs 3,084.90 and most heavy Reliance Industries by 0.83 per cent to Rs 852.35.
Auto sector stocks rose as Mahindra and Mahindra first- quarter profit beat market estimates amid rising demand for farm equipment and Hindalco reported first profit increase in seven quarters.