Sensex soars over 300 points, post Fed minutes

Zee Media Bureau

Stocks continued to see buying interest from investors as the benchmark BSE Sensex rallied over 300 points in afternoon trade Thursday, led by short covering on strong global cues.

What supported the upbeat mood was expectations that US Fed may take care in tightening rates after a likely December lift-off.

Sustained buying was seen in auto, IT, banking, capital goods, technology and FMCG stocks while healthcare saw some mild selling.

The 30-share index resumed higher at 25,640.34 and surged to 25,854.51 before quoting at 25,808.03, a jump of 325.51 points, or 1.28 percent.

The NSE Nifty were also trading up at 102.70 points, or 1.33 percent, at 7,834.50.

Hero MotoCorp hit a sweet spot, up 4.17 percent, followed by Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank, Maruti and Infosys.

However, Dr Reddy's fell 2 percent.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) stayed in exit mode as they net sold shares worth Rs 768.46 crore yesterday, provisional data showed.

Asian stocks surged after the US Fed minutes of the October meeting backed bets of a rate increase in December, which effectively is a vote of confidence in the health of the world's largest economy and a boon for the banking sector.

US stocks closed higher yesterday as investors appeared positively inclined towards higher rates after minutes also showed senior officials rallied behind a possible December rate hike.

With Agency Inputs