Mumbai, September 30: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Wednesday staged an impressive rally of over 270 points to cross the psychologically crucial 17,000-point level for the first time in 17 months.
Marketmen said sustained capital inflows on anticipation of strong quarterly earnings by India Inc, triggered heavy buying.
The 30-share index, Sensex, which gained nearly 160 points in the previous session, surged by 273.93 points, or 1.63 per cent, to 17,126.84, a level last seen on May 9 last year. The index touched a high of 17,142.52 during the day, but pared some gains at the end.
In a similar fashion, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty, which had crossed the crucial 5,000-point level in yesterday’s trading, added 77.10 points, or 1.54 per cent, to 5,083.95.
Brokers said continued buying by foreign funds on expectations of strong quarter earnings by corporates mainly bolstered the trading sentiment, helping the Sensex to continue its rising streak.
The rally was backed by a steep rise in the stocks of banking, auto and capital good segments.
In the 30-BSE index stocks, 26 closed with gains, while four others-Bharti Airtel, Grasim Industries, ITC Ltd and ONGC — ended with losses.
The two most heaviest on the Sensex, Reliance Industries and Infosys surged by 1.63 per cent to Rs 2,201.20 and 0.90 per cent to Rs 2,308.40, respectively. Both carry nearly 23 per cent weightage on the benchmark index.
Marketmen said the market was driven by strong optimism that the second quarter corporate earnings would be quite encouraging, largely prompted by higher advance tax payments by companies.
Asian indices ended up by about 0.30 per cent to 1.0 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng eased by 0.28 per cent. Other European markets traded in the green in their early trade. A firm European market and higher US index futures this afternoon further enlivened the market sentiment.
The trading volume was high despite half-yearly closing of accounts in commercial banks and a public holiday on October 2 on account of “Gandhi Jayanti”, leading to another long weekend.
The banking and financial company stocks were in keen demand after reports that the country’s economy would expand seven per cent in the current fiscal.
The banking index gained the most by 3.69 per cent to 9,855.60 as stocks of State Bank of India added 5.01 per cent to Rs 2,195.70.
Oil India gained 8.62 per cent to Rs 1,140.55. The state-run explorer, which raised Rs 2,780 crore through an initial public offering, today got listed on the bourses and started trading at Rs 1,127 with a premium of over 7 per cent.
The Auto sector index was second best performer by rising 2.13 per cent to 6,664.25 followed by capital goods index by 1.74 per cent to 13,757.19.
—Agencies