Dalal Street cheers; Sensex, Nifty end over 4.5% up

The 30-share index, Sensex wrapped the day on a pleasant note on encouraging global cues, intense buying seen across board and inflaftion numbers. Realty, metal, capital goods, oil & gas and banking stocks also led the rally. It opened on a strong note with a gain of 205.26 points, at 10,107.25 on Thursday. As the day progressed, it gained further strength, touching a high of 10,432.31.

India`s benchmark wholesale price index (WPI), inflation rose marginally to stand at 0.31% for the week ended Mar. 21, 2009, as compared to 0.27% a week ago. It stood at 7.85% during the corresponding week of the previous year.

Secondline stocks also performed well. BSE Midcap and Smallcap index surged 3.77% and 2.91% respectively.

Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE Realty zooms 9.13% followed by Metal, which soared 6.85%, Oil & gas and Capital goods surged over 5% each, Bankex rose 4.79% and Power was up by 4.10.

Asian stocks ended positive, as US auto sales rose from a 27-year low and treasury secretary Timothy Geithner said economies are showing traction.Japanese benchmark index Nikkei gained 367.87 points, or 4.40%, to end at 8,719.78;Hong Kong`s Hang Seng index rose 1,002.43 points, or 7.41%, to close at 14,521.97;China`s Shanghai Composite advanced 17.27 points, or 0.72%, to settle at 2,425.29.

European stocks climbed above 4,000 for the first time in almost six weeks, as higher metals and oil prices lifted raw-material producers. FTSE 100 climbed 124.74 points, or 3.15%, to trade at 4,080.35, CAC 40 gained 122.42 points, or 4.31%, to trade at 2,962.03 and DAX advanced 195.80 points, or 4.74%, to trade at 4,326.87. (4.12 p.m., IST)

The Sensex ended the day with a gain of 446.84 points, or 4.51% at 10,348.83 after touching a high of 10,432.31 and a low of 10,107.25. The broad-based NSE Nifty climbed 150.70 points, or 4.92% at 3,211.05 after hitting a high of 3,228.75 and a low of 3,061.05.

Major gainers in the 30-share index were DLF (15.08%), Jaiprakash Associates (13.23%), Tata Motors (12.84%), Reliance Communications (9%), Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (8.28%), and Wipro (7.41%).

On the other hand, and Hindustan Unilever (2.49%) were the biggest losers in the Sensex.

Overall market breadth was sharply positive. Out of the total 2,618 stocks traded at BSE, 2,014 advanced, 535 declined while 69 remained unchanged.