Rising for the fourth day, the BSE benchmark Sensex on Friday jumped by nearly 270 points to end at one-month high of 19,683.23 on heavy buying in banking, oil & gas and metal shares amid optimism over a interest rate cut by RBI later this month.
The Sensex, which had gained 535.58 points in last three sessions, shot up further by 269.69, or 1.39 per cent to 19,683.23, a level last seen on February 4.
Around 25 entities gained in the 30-share Sensex which was led by HDFC, ITC, HDFC Bank, RIL and ICICI Bank. L&T, SBI, ONGC and Jindal Steel also notched up smart gains.
Across the BSE, over 1,730 stocks ended with gains while 1,135 scrips settled lower. Investor wealth soared by nearly Rs 75,000 crore to Rs 67.40 lakh crore.
On similar lines, the broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty regained 5,900 level by rising 82.40 points, or 1.41 per cent to end at 5,945.70.
“It was another day of good run for the markets as the Nifty closed the day decisively above the 5900 mark. The upmove from 5,650 has been quite strong and is backed by good momentum,” said Shubham Agarwal, Associate VP & Senior Technical Equities Analyst, Motilal Oswal Securities.
Brokers said the upsurge in the market was mostly attributed to expectations of an interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India in its policy review this month.
Investors are now looking forward to industrial output data due next week, traders said.
They also said a firming global trend as data from the US added to positive signs that the global economy is recovering, further supported the market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday climbed to another record on lower-than-expected jobs-related data.
