Sensex up 340 points; banking scrips lead rally

Indian equities made handsome gains Monday on strong global cues and buying momentum in banking and realty stocks, with a key index surging 340 points from its previous close.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened higher at 16,190.79 points, closed at 16,498.72 points, 2.11 percent or 340.44 points above Friday's close at 16,158.28 points.

The S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), too, closed in the positive terrain at 4,898.40 points, up 2.13 percent over its last close.

Mid-to-smaller capitalised scrips also found favour with buyers, with the BSE midcap index closing 1.97 percent up and the BSE small cap index ending 2.16 percent higher.

The market breadth was positive, with 1,993 stocks advancing, 756 declining and 47 remaining unchanged.

Among the top gainers on the Sensex were SBI, up 5.19 percent; ICICI Bank, up 4.72 percent; HDFC Bank, up 4.06 percent; ITC 3.9 percent and Tata Power 3.78 percent.

Leading losers were Bharti Airtel, down 3.88 percent; Reliance Communications, down 2.19 percent and Hindustan Unilever, down 0.71 percent.

According to data with the regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), foreign institutional investors bought shares worth $148.70 million Monday.

Other leading Asian markets closed in the green.

The primary index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Hang Seng, closed 377.83 points or 1.73 percent up at 22,207.55 points.

The Nikkei, a key index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, closed 19.64 points higher at 9,808.99 points.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange composite index shut shop 0.36 percent higher at 3175.59 points.

European markets were also ruling higher.

Britain's FTSE 100 index was ruling 76.05 points higher at 5,218.77 points, while its German peer, DAX, was trading at 5,586.84 points, up 98.59 points.

The French index, CAC 40, was also ruling in the green at 3,767.80 points, up 60.51 points.

Last updated on Nov 9^th, 2009 at 17:22 pm IST--IANS