The BSE benchmark Sensex rallied by 245 points in late morning trade on Friday on speculations that Federal Reserve could maintain monetary stimulus to the U.S. economy next year on fears of the 16-day partial U.S. government shutdown, which ended this week, curbing economic growth there.
The market sentiment was boosted by data showing that foreign funds made substantial purchases of Indian stocks on Thursday. They bought shares worth net Rs 1,109.93 crore yesterday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
Shares of banking, realty, metal and refinery sectors moved up sharply on good demand from operators and investors.
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The BSE-30 share barometer Sensex resumed higher at 20,486.78 and firmed up further to a high of 20,673.44 before quoting 20,660.07 points at 1030 hours.
It showed a gain of 244.56 points or 1.20 per cent from its last close.
The NSE 50-share index Nifty also moved up by 74.55 points or 1.23 per cent to 6,120.40 at 1030 hours.
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Major gainers were ICICI Bank (2.88 per cent), SSLT (2.53 per cent), Tata Steel (2.52 per cent), HDFC Bank (2.23 per cent) and Maruti Suzuki (1.98 per cent).
Asian markets were trading mostly higher after latest data showed that China’s economic growth accelerated in Q3 September 2013.
Key benchmark indices in Singapore, China, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan rose by 0.13-0.68 per cent while indices in Indonesia and Japan fell 0.05-0.06 per cent.
The U.S. stocks ended mostly higher on Thursday, lifting the S&P 500 to a record finish, as Wall Street turned from the latest fiscal drama on Capitol Hill to corporate earnings.