Sensex soars 460 points, Nifty regains 7,800-mark on global cues

The Sensex opened strong at 25,321.83 and continued to rise to hit the day's high of 25,709.68. Finally, it settled at almost two-week high of 25,688.86, gain of 460.36 points or 1.82 percent -- its biggest single-day gain since April 13.

Mumbai: The BSE Sensex logged its biggest single-day gain in nearly four weeks, surging 460 points to 25,688.86, on a flurry of buying activity after global shares rallied on hopes that the US Federal Reserve will remain cautious on interest rate hikes.

Besides, a string of encouraging quarterly numbers so far raised expectations of an improvement in the economy.

Sentiment was supported by lower-than-expected US April non-farm payroll numbers, as it meant the Fed would take longer time to raise interest rates.

Two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto was the biggest gainer on the index, climbing 3.78 percent to Rs 2,527.95, while Axis Bank followed with a gain of 3.41 percent to Rs 477.25.

Mortgage lender HDFC continued its winning streak for yet another day, on the back of upbeat fourth quarter earnings, surging 3.12 percent to Rs 1,204.

"Weak US payroll data gave support to rising hopes that the Fed will not raise interest rates in June this year," said Shreyash Devalkar, Fund Manager - Equities BNP Paribas MF.

European markets climbed after Greek lawmakers adopted further austerity measures as Athens bids to unlock more bailout money.

Back home, the Sensex resumed up at 25,321.83 and shot up further to a high of 25,709.68 before ending at 25,688.86 -- its almost two-week high -- showing a gain of 460.36 points or 1.82 percent. This is the index's biggest single-session gain since April 13.

The NSE 50-share Nifty rose by 132.60 points or 1.71 percent to close at 7,866.05.

ITC surged by 2.38 percent to Rs 324.75 after the company said there is "progressive resumption" of production at its cigarette factories.

Jewellery stocks like P C Jewellers and Titan rose 1.03 percent and 0.41 percent, respectively, on hopes of a pick up in buying on the occasion of Akshya Tritiya.

In Europe, gains were supported by a latest data showing German manufacturing orders rebounded sharply in March. Key indices from the continent, like in France, Germany and the UK, were higher by up to 1.85 percent.

Asian stocks ended mixed. The Shanghai Composite ended 2.79 percent lower, indices in Taiwan and South Korea moved down by up to 0.45 percent while Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore based shares finished higher between 0.23 percent and 1.29 percent.

Out of the 30-share Sensex, 26 scrips ended higher.

Major gainers were Bajaj Auto (3.78 percent), Axis Bank (3.41 percent), ICICI Bank (3.28 percent), HDFC (3.12 percent), L&T (2.72 percent), ITC (2.38 percent), SBI (2.30 percent), Bharti Airtel (2.23 percent), NTpercent (2.21 percent), Hero MotoCorp (2.19 percent), Asian Paints (2.00 percent) and HDFC Bank (1.89 percent).

However, Dr Reddy's fell by 0.91 percent followed by HUL (0.80 percent) and Tata Steel (0.12 percent).

Among BSE sectoral and industry indices, bankex rose 2.45 percent followed by finance (2.35 percent), capital goods (1.86 percent), telecom (1.80 percent), realty (1.74 percent), auto (1.60 percent), teck (1.48 percent) and power (1.39 percent).

Broader markets too were in a better shape with the BSE mid-cap rising 1.25 percent and the mid-cap up 1.20 percent.

The market breadth turned positive as 1,673 stocks ended higher, 972 closed lower while 162 ruled steady.

The total turnover rose to Rs Rs 2,467.95 crore from Rs 1,990.71 crore on Friday.