Sensex rallies 226 points on European cues

Mumbai - In a broad-based rally, a benchmark index of Indian equities markets Tuesday surged 226 points on positive cues from European bourses and hopes of better-than-expected quarterly earnings in interest-sensitive stocks.

All sectoral indices closed in the green. Buying was led by banking, auto, capital goods and FMCG stocks.

Shares of Anil Ambani-led Reliance group companies such as Reliance Communications, Reliance Capital, Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Power jumped 3-7 percent on the back of huge volumes.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 17,431.68 points closed at 17,618.35, up 1.30 percent or 226.37 points from its previous close at 17,391.98 points.

The BSE mid-cap was up 68.49 points and small cap was higher by 54.77 points.

The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also closed 1.33 percent higher at 5,345.35 points.

The Sensex was trading over 79 points in the early trade. It extended gains after European markets opened strong Eurozone finance ministers agreed on the terms of a bailout for troubled Spanish lenders. The rupee also appreciated against the dollar.

The BSE capital goods index was up 175.73 points, while the FMCG index and the automobile index were 85.18 points and 151.67 points up respectively.

Major Sensex gainers were Hindalco Inds, up 2.74 percent at Rs.127.60; Maruti Suzuki, up 2.72 percent at Rs.1,221.30; ITC, up 2.71 percent at Rs.258.15; Tata Motors, up 2.58 points at Rs.246.40 and Sterlite Inds, up 2.46 percent at Rs.108.30.

The only two Sensex losers were Wipro, down 0.36 percent at Rs.384.50 and NTPC, down 0.03 percent at Rs.159.75.

In the Asian region, the Japan's Nikkei closed 0.44 percent down, Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed 0.16 percent down and China's Composite index closed 0.29 percent down.

At closing bell here, European markets were trading in the green. France's CAC was up 1.34 percent and so were Germany's DAX, up 1.41 percent, Britain's FTSE 100, up 0.94 percent.