Sensex rallies 143 points on IMF growth upgrade for India; Nifty reclaims 8,800-mark

Mumbai: Adding gains for the fourth day on the trot, the Sensex jumped over 143 points and the Nifty retook the 8,800 level today amid continuous foreign capital inflows driven by a higher growth projection for India by IMF.

Asian cues remained in a fine shape, backed by a strong conviction that US economy is on mend after a better showing of its manufacturing sector, which cheered investors.

The 30-share index was up 143.10 points, or 0.50 percent, at 28,477.65, with all sectoral indices led by metal, realty and banking making headway.

The gauge, which rose over 91 points after a surprise 0.25 rate cut by RBI in its policy review yesterday, had gained 507.02 points in the previous three sessions.

The NSE Nifty today went up 37.80 points, or 0.43 percent, to 8,806.95.

There was a marked sense of optimism after IMF raised its growth projection for India in 2016-17 to a robust 7.6 percent, accelerating buying activity, brokers said.

Major gainers were SBI, Tata Steel, NTPC, Hindustan Unilever, Maruti Suzuki, PowerGrid, ITC, Tata Motors, RIL, Lupin, Bharti Airtel and GAIL, rising by up to 1.45 percent.

In the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei rose 0.57 percent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.45 percent in early trade today. Financial markets in China are closed today for a public holiday.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.47 percent lower yesterday.