Sensex sprints 2000 points in Monday euphoria

18 May 2009

The Sensex recorded its fastest ever 2,000-point surge in history, taking not more than a few minutes to jump from 12,173.42 to 14,284.21, as the bulls overran the bourses following the Congress-led UPA getting a strong mandate in the general elections.

On expectations that the new government would speed up reforms and give the necessary thrust to boost the sagging economy, the markets shrugged off weak global conditions for both the benchmark indices, the Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex and the National Stock Exchange's Nifty, to hit the upper circuit in a flash. While the Sensex shot up by over 10 pr cent, the Nifty flared up by more than 15 per cent, forcing the market authorities to halt trading for a couple of hours.

The trend was no different when trading resumed at 11.55 am. The Sensex, which had moved up by 1305.97 points or 10.73 per cent to 13,479.39 when trade was halted for the first time this morning, shot up to 14,284.21 immediately on resumption of trade a little before noon, recording a huge gain of 2110.79 points or 17.34 per cent for the day. The Nifty, which had flared up to 4271.40 at the bell, galloped to 4384.30 and was up 17.74 per cent or 651.50 points for the session.

For the Sensex, this is the first close past 14,000 since 21 September 2008, when it closed at 14,042.32. The Nifty recorded its best close since 10 September 2008.

With the Left parties no longer able to influence policy and the Congress-led combine winning the polls by a handsome margin, it is now felt that reforms will get a fresh thrust and the new government will seek to provide the required stimulus to revive the sagging economy.

Stocks across the spectrum hit impressive highs this morning, with the realty, banking, capital goods, metal, oil and power sectors attracting the maximum buyers.