Sensex climbs 211 points on positive economic data points

Mumbai: Driven by strong IIP numbers and an unchanged inflation, the Sensex on Friday rallied over 211 points to 32,393, reflecting interrupted buying by domestic institutional investors.

The rupee appreciating 19 paise to 64.89 against the dollar today gave a leg to the rally.

The rest of Asia logged a mixed trend.

The 30-share barometer pushed higher by 211.04 points, or 0.66 percent, to 32,393.26. The gauge had leapt 348 points in the previous session.

Sectoral indices turned green across the board, with metal, realty and FMCG posting sizeable gains of up to 1.90 percent.

The NSE index Nifty was trading up by 43.25 points, or 0.42 percent, at 10,139.65.

Buying activity picked up momentum on positive economic data after industrial production grew to a 9-month high of 4.3 percent in August while retail inflation came in at 3.28 percent in September, unchanged from August.

Stocks of Bharti Airtel zoomed 6.94 percent to Rs 427.80 after the company announced that the consumer mobile business of (CMB) of Tata Teleservices Ltd and Tata Teleservices Maharashtra will merge with it in a cash-free, debt-free deal.

Stock of TCS, India's largest software services, rose 1.08 percent to Rs 2,576.15 even as the company's net profit fell 2.1 percent in the September quarter.

Reliance Industries shot up by 1.15 percent to Rs 882.50 as participants raised their bets ahead of earnings, to be released later in the day.

Japan's Nikkei rose 0.23 percent while Shanghai Composite rose up 0.09 percent in their early deals. Hong Kong's Hang Seng, however, was down 0.16 percent.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average had closed 0.14 percent lower yesterday.