The BSE Sensex today climbed to two month high of 18,943.14, up 127 points, on brisk buying in blue-chips led by banking as drop in crude oil prices eased inflationary concerns.
The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark index Sensex, which had gained 976 points in the last four trading sessions, shot up by another 127.50 points to end the day at 18,943.14 - a level last seen on January 25. Intra-day, the gauge crossed the crucial 19,000-level.
The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose 33 points to 5,687.25, after touching the day’s high of 5,709.10.
The upsurge was led by banking and interest sensitive stocks as a drop in crude oil prices eased concerns of inflation and a further hike in interest rate. Oil fell for the third day in New York, down 54 cents to 104.86 dollar a barrel.
Brokers said that higher openings in European stock markets, on signs that the US economy is improving, also supported the sentiment. The US economy grew at 3.1 per cent annual rate in the fourth quarter, led by a jump in consumer spending.
However, the two most—heaviest stocks — with 23 per cent weightage in the Sensex — Reliance Industries and Infosys Technologies fell and capped the gains.
The banking sector index rose by 1.21 per cent to 13,081.84 as stocks of State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Bank of India and Yes Bank recorded smart gains.
The interest sensitive auto sector index gained the most by adding 1.52 per cent at 8,982.42 on expectations that stability in interest rates would boost the vehicle sale.
The capital goods sector was second best performer by rising 1.27 per cent to 13,184.49 followed by FMCG sector index by 0.86 per cent to 3,540.02.
As the buying activity spilled over a broad front, the midcap index rose by 0.42 per cent to 6,749.81 and smallcap sector index by 0.12 per cent to 8,011.63.