Sensex touches Jan 2008 level, Asian rally helps

MUMBAI - A benchmark index for Indian equities Monday climbed to a level last seen in January 2008 in afternoon trade, breaching the 19,000-points mark.

Banking, realty, energy and PSU stocks were among the top gainers. All 13 sectoral indices on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) were in the positive.

The Indian markets were enthused by buoyant Asian bourses which shot up after China released its industrial production data over the weekend, showing a stronger than expected 13.9 percent rise in industrial output.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 18,845.31 points, was at 19,147.11 points, 347.45 points or 1.85 percent up from its previous close at 18,799.66 points.

All the 30 scrips on the Sensex were in the green, except RCom, which was trading marginally lower than its previous close.

Among the top gainers at this time were key banking stocks SBI, HDFC and ICICI Bank.

At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty was ruling 1.86 percent higher at 5,745 points.

Broader markets indices were also in the green, with the BSE midcap 1.12 percent up and the BSE smallcap index 0.73 percent higher.

Other Asian markets ended trade on a high, helped by positive sentiments from the Chinese industrial output data.

The Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.89 percent to shut shop at 9,321.82 points.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended 1.86 percent up at 21,652.07 points, while the Chinese Shanghai Composite index closed 0.94 percent higher at 2,688.32 points.