Thaindian News

Mumbai, April 13 (IANS) A benchmark index for Indian equities markets surged over two percent Wednesday, led by strong buying support in capital goods, auto, IT and banking scrips, on the back of positive global cues as oil prices fell.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened in the red at 19,187.01 points, rose steadily in the afternoon session and ended the day at 19,696.86 points, up 2.25 percent or 434.32 points from its previous close at 19,262.54 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 19,737.33 points and a low of 19,101.63 points in the intra-day trade.

At the National Stock Exchange, the 50-scrip S&P; CNX Nifty closed 2.17 percent or 125.80 points higher at 5,911.50 after trading in the red in the morning session.

Sharp drop in crude oil prices boosted sentiments at the stock markets across the globe. Crude oil price declined to two-week low of $106.23 a barrel (159 litres) in New York.

Oil price fell over three percent Tuesday after International Energy Agency said crude above $100 a barrel would hurt global economy, resulting in drop in demand.

Broader markets as well as all the 13 sectoral indices also closed in the positive.

The BSE midcap index rose 1.40 percent at 7,223.02 points and the BSE smallcap index ended the day 1.30 percent higher at 8,823.46 points.

Among the sectoral indices, the capital goods and the auto indices soared nearly three percent.

The FMCG index rose 2.52 percent and the Bankex advanced 2.42 percent. The BSE IT and technology indices gained over two percent.

Jaiprakash Associates surged over seven percent at Rs.98.20. Hero Honda, up 5.86 percent at Rs.1,735.10; HDFC, up 3.92 percent at Rs.717.15; HDFC Bank, up 3.30 percent at Rs.2,372.05; L&T;, up 3.26 percent at Rs.1,717.60; and Maruti Suzuki, up 3.22 percent at Rs.1,277.65 were among the major gainers on the Sensex.

Only two of the 30 Sensex scrips closed in the red. Tata Power, down 0.51 percent at Rs.1,310.60 and Sterlite Industries, down 0.40 percent at Rs.172.90 were Sensex losers.

All the major global markets were in the green Wednesday. Among the other Asian markets, the Japanese Nikkei advanced 0.9 percent at 9,641.18 points.

The Hang Seng of the Hong Kong stock exchange rose 0.66 percent at 24,135 points and China’s Shanghai composite index closed 0.96 percent up at 3,050.40 points.

European markets were also trading in the green. Around midday, the French CAC 40 was trading 0.77 percent higher at 4,007.27 points, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.97 percent at 6,022.59 points and the German DAX was ruling 0.98 percent up at 7,172.76 points