Sensex soars 510 points, banking stocks rally

Snapping a five-day losing streak, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Wednesday bounced back from 28-month lows and surged 510 points as investors picked up strong stocks at lower levels amid a firm global trend.

The BSE 30-stock index, which had lost 5.2 per cent in the last five sessions and touched 28-month lows, spurted 510.13 points, or 3.36 per cent, to 15,685.21.

The gains were led by banking, refinery and consumer durables sectors.

The gauge has plunged 25 per cent this year on investor concerns over slowdown in economic and industrial growth, inflation and rising interest rates. Besides, weak global markets in view of persisting euro-zone debt crisis and slowdown in major economies led to FII outflows.

The broad-based NSE index Nifty shot up 148.95 points, or 3.28 per cent to 4,693.15, after crossing 4,700 point level during the session.

Brokers said investors picked up stocks in value-buying amid firm Asian markets and higher openings in Europe.

Besides, the market sentiment got further boost as global ratings agency Moody's upgraded Indian government's long-term bond further supported the uptrend.

The banking index gained the most as ICICI Bank, largest private lender rallied 7.66 per cent, while HDFC Bank gained 5.12 per cent.

In the oil and gas sector, the Sensex heavyweight RIL gained 4.72 per cent, while Infosys was up 2.88 per cent. The two carry nearly 20 per cent weight on the Sensex.