Banks lift Sensex above 18k

Bulls staged a smart comeback on Dalal-Street on Monday with the NSE Nifty ending near days high and the BSE Sensex closing above 18,000. After losing over 1% in the previous week, benchmark stock indices opened with a gap on account of healthy gains in the Asian markets. As the day progressed, a strong rally in European markets perked up the mood in India.

Banking stocks led today's advace, followed by Consumer Durables and Metals stocks. The Mid-Caps and the Small-Cap stocks extended recent gains.

Finally, the Sensex advanced 213 points to end at 18,081, while the Nifty rose 64 points to end at 5,432



"Though the market breadth was decisively positive, traded volume was quite low when compared to the average of the past few sessions", says Amar Ambani, Vice President, Research IIFL.

Markets in Asia ended in green; the Nikkei in Japan gained 0.4%, Australia's S&P/ASX ended higher by 1%, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong ended higher by 1.8% and Shanghai SE Composite added 1%.

European indices were in the positive terrain, with the DAX in Germany up 1.6%, the CAC 40 index in France up 2% and the FTSE in the UK up 2%.

US stock futures too were pointing to a higher opening on Wall Street.