Market ends with hefty gains; Bankex up nearly 4 per cent

02 May 2008

Markets closed with hefty gains. It showed no signs of weakness during the day and also ignored the  higher inflation number. Inflation for  the  week-ended April 19 is at 7.57% versus 7.33%, at a 42-month high. On the sectoral front, the BSE bankex has outperformed the other sectoral indices; it was up nearly 4%.

The Sensex was up 312.81 points or 1.81% at 17600.12, and the Nifty up 62.30 points or 1.21% at 5228.20.

About 1480 shares have advanced, 1393 shares declined, and 209 shares are unchanged.

The BSE bankex was up 322.50 points or 3.66% at 9,142.18. Stocks like ICICI Bank, Federal Bank, Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra and Karnataka Bank surged.

The BSE auto index was up 135.15 points or 2.86% at 4,861.15. Stocks like Escorts, Maruti Suzuki, Punj Tractors, TVS Motor and Ashok Leyland flared up.

The BSE realty index was up 213.20 points or 2.51% at 8,718.69. Stocks like HDIL, Ansal Properties, Indiabulls Real, Unitech and DLF moved up.