Hectic buying activity at the fag-end of trade pushed up the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex by over 208 points today as funds squared up their pending positions amid a firming global trend.
After remaining range-bound for most of the day, the Sensex spurted to close with a gain of 208.27 points at 18,257.12 as information technology, FMCG, metal and banking stocks recorded handsome gains.
The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose by 65 points to 5,479.15, after moving between 5,487.95 and 5,416.25 during the session.
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Marketmen said the rally was sparked after a key report showed that factory output in the US has jumped twice as much as forecast, boosting investor confidence that global demand will be robust enough to drive corporate earnings growth.
In the 30-BSE index component, 22 stocks closed with gains, while eight ended in the negative zone.
The information technology sector gained the most by adding 1.96 per cent to 5,567.53 as Infosys Technologies rose by Rs 52.85 to Rs 2,805.15. Indian software exporters get more than 50 per cent revenue from the US and European markets.
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The FMCG sector was the second-best performer, rising by 1.45 per cent to 3,355.22, followed by the metal segment, which gained 1.43 per cent to 15,292.89.
The auto sector index advanced by 1.27 per cent to 8,873.38 as Tata Motors, the owner of U.K.-based luxury brand Jaguar Land Rover, added Rs 42.10 to Rs 1,047.60 on the back of record sales last month.
With buying activity spilling over a wide-front, the mid cap sector index rose by 0.85 per cent to 7,760 and the small cap index by 0.70 per cent to 9,786.70.