Sensex zooms over 600 points amid global rally

The BSE benchmark Sensex shot up by over 619 points in the opening trade Friday on brisk buying by foreign funds, triggered by easing euro-zone debt crisis and indications by the RBI that it may pause rate hikes.

The 30-share index, which had gained over 500 points in the last three sessions, skyrocketed by 619.30, or 3.58 percent to 17,908.13 in the first five minutes of trading.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also surged, up 197.90 points, or 3.80 percent to 5,399.70, led by metal, banking, auto and IT sector.

The brokers said foreign funds turned net buyers, supported by a global equities rally following steps by European Union leaders to resolve the debt crisis in the euro region, especially, Greece.

Further, they said RBI's indication earlier this week that it may pause further rate hikes, fuelled the uptrend.

Meanwhile, in Asia, the Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up by 1.82 percent and the Japan's Nikkei rose by 1.19 percent in the morning trade Friday.

Sensex regains 16K, up over 500 points on firm global cues

The BSE benchmark Sensex gained 533 points in early trade Friday on all-round buying by operators and investors in the wake of a four-session losing streak.

The BSE benchmark Sensex resumed higher at 16,222.49 and shot up further to 16,347.48 before quoting at 16,325.55, a sharp rise of 533.14 points, or 3.38 percent, from its last close.

The National Stock Exchange's (NSE) 50-share Nifty Index was also up by 166.85 points, or 3.51 percent, at 4,918.15. All the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE were in the green.

Metal stocks surged after the London Metal Exchange, a gauge of six metals, jumped by 4.4 percent yesterday. IT stocks rose on positive economic data from the US, the largest outsourcing market for the Indian IT firms.

The major gainers in early trade were Jindal Steel (up 7.50 percent), Sterlite Industries (7.18 percent), Tata Motors (6.55 percent), ICICI Bank ((6.42 percent), DLF (6.01 percent) and Wipro (4.91 percent).

Asian stocks rose sharply in early trade, making a broad-based advance on fresh indications that Europe is ramping up efforts to shore up its financial system and prevent another global banking crisis.

The key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan were up by between 1.14 percent and 3.17 percent.