Mumbai : A benchmark index for Indian equities markets rallied more than one percent Friday, led by strong buying support in IT, auto and capital goods stocks on the back of positive cues from global markets.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened in the positive at 18,692.15 points, was ruling at 18,770.55 points in the afternoon session, up 1.13 percent or 208.85 points from its previous day close at 18,561.70 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 18,776.50 points and a low of 18,687.93 points in intra-day trade.
The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange was trading 1.09 percent or 61.65 points higher at 5,706.70 points.
Most of the sectoral indices of the Bombay Stock Exchange was trading in the positive, with capital goods index leading the charge. The BSE capital goods index was up 1.81 percent. The IT index was ruling 1.57 percent higher and the auto index was up 1.46 percent.
Wipro surged 1.88 percent at Rs.368.20 after announcing better-than-expected second quarter earnings. The country’s third largest software exporter Wipro said Friday its second quarter profit surged 24 percent to Rs.1,611 crore.
Bajaj Auto rallied 2.92 percent at Rs.1899. L&T, up 2.70 percent at Rs.1675.25; Hero MotoCorp, up 2.09 percent at Rs.1945.05; Sterlite Inds, up 2.06 percent at Rs.101.70 and Mahindra & Mahindra, up 2.01 percent at Rs.917 were among the major Sensex gainers.
Only four of the 30 Sensex scrips were in the red. Bharti Airtel, down 0.69 percent at Rs.278.90; Hindustan Unilever, down 0.45 percent at Rs.535, Sun Pharma, down 0.34 percent at Rs.698 and RIL, down 0.25 percent at Rs.805 were the Sensex losers.
The Indian markets rallied on positive cues from the global markets. Japan’s Nikkei rallied 1.17 percent at 9,051.22 points. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 1.31 percent at 22,108.72 points.
The overnight rally in US markets boosted sentiments in Asia and other markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average index had surged 1.04 percent Thursday. The Nasdaq Composite Index had risen 1.44 percent.