Mumbai: Rising for the fourth straight day, the BSE benchmark Sensex on Friday surged 256 points on buying in IT stocks as the country's second largest software exporter Infosys posted smart quarterly numbers and raised annual sales forecast, amid a firming global trend.
After making a firm start at 20,559.69, the 30-share index fell to a low of 20,434.51 before settling 255.68 or 1.26 points higher at 20,528.59. Sensex had gained 378 points in the past three sessions.
Similarly, the broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty shot up by 75.25 points, or 1.25 per cent, to 6,096.20, after climbing to day's high of 6,107.60. The SX40 index on the MCX Stock Exchange closed higher by 138.72 points at 12,217.87.
Brokers said the current rally was led by information technology stocks boosted by Infosys starting the second quarter earnings season.
Its net profit rose by 4.79 per cent to Rs 3,273.90 and it revised its dollar guidance upwards to 9-10 per cent for the current fiscal from 6-10 per cent earlier, saying its dollar revenue will rise as economic recovery in the US and Europe would prompt clients to boost spending.
A firming trend in global stock markets on speculation that US lawmakers would reach an agreement on raising the nation's debt limit to avoid a default, further supported the uptrend, brokers added.
Out of the 30 BSE index components, 20 stocks gained while 10 ended with losses. Top gainers were ICICI Bank, Infosys, Larsen and Toubro, Tata Motors and Maruti.
Sectorally, the IT sector index gained the most by rising 3.12 per cent to 8,514.18 followed by bank index by 3.09 per cent to 12,087.53. Capital goods index rose by 2.77 per cent to 8,472.56 and realty index by 2.66 per cent to 1,354.47.
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