The country?s equity indices on Wednesday advanced the most in 10-weeks led by gains in metal, realty and IT stocks and supportive cues from the world markets. Sentiments were boosted by strong GDP numbers which investors speculated would translate into higher profitability and demand. Some section though felt that Sensex moved despite not taking cognizance of such high GDP growth data, which were doubted by many economists.
Meanwhile, commodity stocks rallied globally after the rebound in Chinese manufacturing index pushed up base metal prices.
The 30-share Sensex closed at 18,205.87, up 234.8 points, or 1.3%, the biggest gain since June 21, 2010. Meanwhile, the 50-share Nifty gained 69.5 points, or 1.3%, to end at 5,471.9.
On the Sensex index, 27 components ended with gains, while only three declined. All the sectoral indices ended with gains, with BSE metal index gaining 3.02%, followed by BSE realty index, which gained 2.98% and BSE IT index which gained 2%. The small- and mid-cap stocks outperformed large caps with BSE Midcap index gaining 1.67%, while the BSE Smallcap index climbing 1.81%.
The biggest gainer on the Sensex was Reliance Communications which climbed 4.94%, followed by Hindalco which soared 4.48% and Sterlite Industries gained 3.57%. Amongst index heavyweights Infosys gained 2.54%, Reliance Industries rose 1.92% and ICICI Bank soared 1.77%. The losers on the index were Hero Honda, which declined 1.85%, HDFC fell 0.42% and ONGC declined 0.38%. The combined turnover in the cash market was Rs 18,559 crore, while the total turnover in the F&O market was at Rs 96,165.88 crore.
?If the global markets are supportive, we can soon climb to a new 52-week high, said Piyush Garg, CIO, ICICI Securities.
Major indices in the Asia region ended positive on Wednesday. Japan?s Nikkei gained 1.17%; China?s Shanghai SE Composite fell 0.6%; South Korea?s Kospi climbed 1.26% and Singapore?s Straits Times advanced 1.1%.