Cutting short its three-day falling streak, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today rose by 100 points to close at a 30-month high on buying in metal, realty and auto stocks.
The 30-share barometer closed 99.09 points higher at 17,977.23 points, a level last seen in February 2008.
The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose by 31.35 points to settle at 5,399.35 points.
Market leader Reliance Industries rose by Rs. 5.35 to Rs. 1,058.25 and second heaviest Infosys Technologies by Rs. 7.95 to Rs. 2,765.55. The two carry nearly 23 per cent weightage on the Sensex.
Among the 30 index shares, 19 counters finished with gains while 11 settled in the negative zone.
Buying activity gathered momentum after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the nation’s food inflation might moderate, easing concerns of further increases in interest rates.
The upsurge was further supported as stock markets across Asian followed by Wall Street ended higher and a firm opening in Europe this afternoon.
The BSE metal sector index gained the most by rising 3.16 per cent to 15,430.64 in line with firming overseas base-metal prices. Copper in London rose 0.8 per cent after the report on US building permits bolstered prospects for metals demand.
Sterlite Industries, the largest copper producer, advanced the most by Rs. 7.20 to Rs. 173.30 followed by Tata Steel by 20.45 to Rs. 529.95.
The realty sector index was the second best performer by rising 0.98 per cent to 3,507.08 followed by auto sector index by 0.83 per cent to 8,327.60 points.
Among Asian markets, key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea and China edged up by 0.26 per cent to 0.91 per cent.
European shares firmed up in the early trade boosted by technology stocks, as strong results from Apple improved sentiment. The key benchmark indices in U.K., France and Germany were up by 1.38 per cent to 1.84 per cent.
