The Hindu Business Line : Sensex surges 340 points on growth hopes

MUMBAI: The benchmark Sensex on Monday jumped 340 points, extending gains for the fourth straight session, on a flurry of buying by funds and retail investors, sparked by the government's move to push financial reforms.

The Bombay Stock Exchange barometer closed higher by 340.44 points, or 2.11 per cent, at 16,498.72 points.

The index has risen by over 750 points in the last three sessions.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty spurted by 102.25 points to close at 4,898.40 points.

Brokers said markets posted smart gains on a strong rally in most-weighted Reliance Industries and banking sector stocks after the government's move to push financial reforms.

The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Sunday, said the government would steadily pursue reforms to feed economic growth, while withdrawing the fiscal stimulus by next year.

Reliance Industries regained Rs 2,000 level rising by 3.46 per cent to close at Rs 2,024.55. State Bank of India shot up by 5.19 per cent to Rs 2,318.55, ICICI Bank by 4.72 per cent to Rs 888.80 and HDFC Bank by 4.06 per cent to Rs 1,706.50.

Strong global cues and a weakening dollar also influenced the trading sentiment, brokers said.

Singapore shares closed up 1.32 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 377.83 points to close at a two-week high, while Japan's Nikkei-225 index climbed 19.64 points.

Among sectoral indices, the BSE Bankex was the best performer rising by 4.80 per cent to 10,155.67.

The consumer durables index ended 2.44 per cent higher at 3,472.98, oil and gas index by 2.40 per cent to 9,861.12, metal index by 2.38 per cent to 14,852.90, realty index by 2.20 per cent to 4,081.54, FMCG index by 2.17 per cent to 2,825.02, PSU index b y 2.13 per cent to 8,982.07 and auto index by 1.58 per cent to 6,621.68.

With the improvement in the trading sentiments, buying activity also picked up in small to medium cap stocks, lifting the small-cap index by 2.16 per cent to 7,325.63, while mid- cap index ended 1.97 per cent higher at 6,37.36. - PTI

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