Sensex surges 400 points almost after a year;

The Indian markets witnessed a 2% rally for the eighth straight day. The Sensex closed 443 points higher while the Nifty gained 142 points in trade today. Major Headlines: Govt hikes diesel prices by Rs5 per litre Inflation for Aug at 7.55% vs 6.87% in July 2012 Cabinet to consider FDI in aviation, broadcast sector Govt terminates mining licence of 4-blocks Indian Indices: Today's sharp rally on the Dalal Street was led by buoyant global cues. Consistent buying was witnessed across the board which helped the Indian markets trade higher throughout the day. Gains in heavyweights also contributed to the upside. The key benchmark indices ended up over 2% on Friday to its highest close after the rupee appreciated sharply, shrugging off higher-than-expected August inflation. Government's bold move to increase diesel prices and the US Fed's announcement of a third round of quantitative easing sparked off a rally in global stocks which invariably led support to the Indian equities. The broader markets ended on a positive note. The BSE Midcap index gained 0.88%, while the BSE Smallcap index rose 0.45% in trade today. The NSE Nifty hit the key 5,550 mark while the BSE Sensex comfortably surpassed the 18,450 level. The Sensex rose 2.46% to its highest close since July 26, 2011, gaining for an eighth consecutive session, while the NSE Nifty rose 2.62%. Movement of the Indian indices for the day: There’s been a perceptible shift in the stock market sentiment over the past few sessions with the benchmark indices registering 8th day of gains in trade today. The Indian markets closed today's trading session in the green zone tracking positive global peers as well domestic market. The main reason for today's rally came from after the government's diesel price hike and the Federal Reserve's monetary stimulus sparked a broad-based rally in blue chips companies such as Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank. The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty started the trade on a positive note on Friday morning as Asian markets gave some support. This trend continued for all the trading sessions Later, positive cues from European markets too helped key indices. The Sensex and the Nifty shut shop with a gain of over 2% today. The markets gained for the eight consecutive session today. All the sectors were on the buyer's radar. Majority of the index heavyweights provided support to the markets. The main contributors of today's rally in index heavyweights were RIL, ICICI Bank, Infosys, L&T, HDFC, SBI and HDFC Bank. The broader markets too traded with gains. The BSE Midcap and the BSE Smallcap index rose by 0.88% and 0.45% respectively. The Sensex surged 443.11 points to close at 18,464.27, while the Nifty advanced 142.30 points to settle at 5577.65. Major events of the day: India's wholesale price index (WPI) rose to higher-than-expected 7.55% in August from a year earlier, mainly driven by higher food prices due to deficient monsoon, government data showed on Friday (September 14, 2012). Yesterday, the government had capped subsidised domestic liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for a consumer to six per year. The diesel price was increased by Rs5 per litre, while the excise duty on petrol was reduced by Rs5.30 a litre to avoid price hike. From the currency point of view, the rupee continues to trade near two-and-half-month high at 54.70/71, versus its previous close of 55.43/44, after the Fed announced new monetary stimulus added by rise in diesel prices by the government, signaling measures to tackle the fiscal reforms. Gold prices touched new all-time high of Rs32,900 per 10 grams today, tracking the metal's rally overseas after the US Federal Reserve meeting. While gold added Rs310 to hit the record level, silver rose by Rs.800 to Rs.62,000 per kg. Following are the stocks/ sectors which were in news today 1. Essar Oil gained after the Supreme Court directed the company to pay the balance sale tax dues in installments spread over two years. The stock gained 7.45% in trade today 2. Shares of metal companies surged after the US Federal Reserve announced another aggressive stimulus plan to buy mortgage-related debt and other assets until the outlook for job improves. The top gainers were Tata Steel, Jindal Steel, Sterlite and Hindalco. 3. Shares of airline companies have seen huge trading activities on the bourses ahead of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) meeting today to consider the proposal of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the sector. 4. Grasim Industries rose after the firm and Omikenshi Co. on Thursday said that they have entered into an agreement to jointly develop new international markets for several functional rayon products. The stock gained 2.52% in trade today. Market sentiment: The market breadth stood in favor of advances. Of the 3058 stocks traded on the BSE, 1497 (48.95%) rose, 1420 (46.44%) fell and 141 (4.61%) stocks remained unchanged. Sectoral & stock screening: Among the 13 sectoral indices, eleven sectors closed in green zone while remaining two sectors closed in red zone. Top Gainers: BSE Realty rose by 4.78%, BSE Metal surged by 4.25%, BSE Bankex gained 4.15%. Top Losers: BSE HC down by 1.24%, BSE FMCG down by 0.49%. Among 'A' group stocks, top three gainers were- Jindal Steel rose by 8.83%, Hindalco up by 8.00% and DLF surged by 7.49%. Top three losers were- Glenmark Pharma declined by 4.26%, Lupin down by 4.01% and Opto Circuits fell by 3.62%. Global signals: Asian stock markets shot higher on Friday after the Federal Reserve met investors’ Asian stock markets shot higher on Friday after the Federal Reserve met investors' expectations by giving the green light to big asset purchases to boost the U.S. economy. European stocks rallied to a 14-month high early on Friday, led by growth-oriented stocks like miners, after the launch of a new monetary stimulus programme from the U.S. Federal Reserve in its latest attempt to drive growth in the world's largest economy. US stock index futures pointed to a higher opening at the Wall Street on Friday, after surging to multi-year highs on Thursday after the Federal Reserve announced an aggressive plan to stimulate the economy, encouraging investors to dive back into the market. Market Outlook: Data to be released in the US on Friday is: Consumer Price Index, Retail Sales, Industrial Production, Consumer Sentiment and Business Inventories.