Sensex ends 351 points higher on strong buying

It was a good day for the markets, with the Sensex closing 351 points up and the Nifty surging 104 points.

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Indian indices

The key benchmark indices were in cheerful mood today, with the Sensex hitting the 19,000 mark and the Nifty surpassing the 5,700 level. The markets closed at two-month high buoyed by broad based buying interest and positive global cues. The rally was led by heavyweights like Bharti Airtel, L&T, NTPC, ITC, RIL, SBI and HDFC. Sustained buying by foreign institutional investors ( FIIs) provided major support.

Sensex movements: The Sensex rose 50 points at 18777 in the opening trade and immediately touched the day’s low of 18767. The index moved upwards and remained high all throughout the day. All-round buying led the Sensex to hit the day’s high of 19098 in late trade. The Sensex jumped 351 points to settle at 19078 and the Nifty rose 104 points to close at 5729.

Market sentiment

The market breadth stood extremely strong, with 1898 shares gaining, 968 shares declining and 132 shares traded unchanged.

Viewing volumes

India's second largest real estate developer - Unitech was traded the most, with over 0.23 crore shares changing hands on the BSE. Following that wind turbine major - Suzlon Energy (0.21 crore shares), a microfinance institution - SKS Microfinance (0.19 crore shares), one of south India's largest media and entertainment companies - Sun TV Network (0.19 crore shares) and one of the fastest growing integrated infrastructure enterprises of India - Lanco Infratech (0.17 crore shares).

Sectoral & stock screening

All the sectoral indices closed with strong gains. Top performers - BSE Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) up by 2.60%, BSE Realty rose by 2.25% and BSE Capital Goods (CG) surged by 2.20%. Rest of the sectors gained in the range of 1.08-1.71%.

Top 'A' group gainers - SKS Microfinance advanced by 20%, DB Realty rose by 8.97% and Godrej Industries rose by 8.46%. Top 'A' group losers - Sun TV Network lost by 2.63%, Indusind Bank fell by 1.37% and Great Eastern Shipping Company declined by 1.11%.

Global signals

The European markets were steady on Thursday, as investors refrained from making any bold moves ahead of interest-rate decisions by the Bank of England and European Central Bank and some key data releases.

The Asian indices closed mixed on Thursday. Chinese central bank hiked benchmark deposit and l ending rates. Shanghai Composite down by 0.58%, while Straits Times rose by 0.36%.

The Wall Street is set to open higher on Thursday.

Market Outlook: ADP Employment Report and Weekly Jobless Claims will be out in the US on Thursday.