Led by banking, finance and realty sectors, the BSE Sensex crossed the 19,000-mark for the first time since July 2011. It ended the day at 19,058, up one per cent over the previous day's close. The NSE Nifty, which briefly touched the psychological 5,800-mark during intra-day, closed 0.98 per cent higher at 5787.6.
Talk of the Government opening the insurance and pension sectors, egged on foreign institutional investors, which were net buyers for Rs 944.53 crore on Thursday. However, domestic funds remained net sellers. Today, they offloaded shares worth Rs 818.55 crore, according to BSE data.
The BSE Realty index was the biggest gainer, by 5 per cent, on hopes of a rate cut. With this sector being among the worst performers, investors are now looking at it as a value play, said marketmen. DB Realty, DLF and Oberoi Realty were the biggest gainers.
The banking index gained 1.9 per cent, as banks with insurance arms hogged the limelight on the hope they will be able to sell stakes to foreign investors. ICICI Bank was up by almost 3 per cent to end at Rs 1,083.70 after touching a 52-week high of Rs 1,094.1. HDFC Bank rose 1.88 per cent, while its holding company HDFC closed 1.65 per cent higher at Rs 788.85.
“There would definitely be some value unlocking taking place for the insurance and finance companies. Also major banking stocks will gain in the near term,” said Vaibhav Agrawal, analyst with Angel Broking.
“Pure-play insurance companies may benefit with the opening up of the insurance sector,” he added.
Bajaj Finserv Ltd and Max India touched a 52-week high of Rs 968.60 and Rs 244.50 respectively, while Reliance Capital gained 2 per cent and Aditya Birla Nuvo 4.41 per cent.