The BSE Sensex
jumped 412 points to end at over 3-week high on Thursday on the back of measures announced by new Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan to boost the currency and the overall economy.
Markets lapped up Rajan's positive announcements
after he took charge at the central bank with experts viewing his move to allow banks to swap their dollar liabilities against FCNR(B) (foreign currency non-resident) as a key step.
Brokers said a meaningful improvement in rupee would raise the likelihood of a rollback of some of RBI's recent liquidity-tightening measures.
After gaining
333 points in the previous session, the 30-share index of the Bombay Stock Exchange surged by 412.21 points, or 2.22 per cent to 18,979.76. Intra-day, it breached 19,000-level to hit 19,117.52.
The 50-share National Stock Exchange Nifty shot up 144.85 points, or 2.66 per cent to 5,592.95, after touching a high of 5,625.75. MCX-SX's SX-40 ended at 11208.21, up 241.39 points.
"Smart recovery of rupee which was trading near 66 level, recovery in bonds and positive global cues, all lifted market sentiment. Buying was prominent in rate-sensitive sectors. IT, however, was down as rupee recovered," said Rakesh Goyal, Senior Vice President, Bonanza Portfolio.
The
passage of Pension Bill in Lok Sabha on Thursday raised hopes of more such reforms soon, experts added.
The banking sector index gained the most by rising 9.30 per cent to 11,014.99 as Yes Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI, ICICI Bank and Bank of Baroda shares in 7-21 per cent range.
Gains were cemented by rate cut hopes in the next policy meet.
The interest-linked realty sector was second best performer by adding 5.41 per cent to 1,213.29 while consumer durable sector jumped by 4.54 per cent to 6,751.63.
Investors became richer by a whopping Rs 1.2 lakh crore on Thursday as banks, realty, consumer durables and PSUs rallied. Across BSE, nearly 1,500 stocks rose out of the 2,474 traded.
With inputs from PTI
<em>Photo: Reuters</em> 
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