Sensex jumps over 900 pts

Stock market barometer Sensex on Tuesday surged by more than 900 points in intra-day trading to cross 18,500 points on heavy buying by foreign and domestic funds in blue-chips led by Reliance Group and capital goods stocks.

The 30-share index, Sensex, which suffered steep falls last week, turned bullish a day after market regulator SEBI said it will expedite the registration process for foreign institutional investors and allow proprietary sub-accounts of FIIs to register for investing in India.

The BSE barometer soared 915.87 points to 18,529.86 at around 1500 hrs. The National Stock Exchange index Nifty also rose by 292.75 points at 5,476.75.

Reliance Industries, the nation's largest company by market value, led gains. Larsen & Toubro Ltd, the biggest engineering company, and its nearest rival state-run BHEL also made heavy gains on the bourses. The BSE Capital Goods index was the key driver in the rally and recorded a massive rise of nearly 1,300 points.