Sensex ends above 14000; realty, banks, infra, metals up 4-6 per cent

27 May 2009

It was a spectacular performance from the benchmark indices in today's trade, led by the positive cues from the US and the Asian markets. Steep rise was seen in realty, banking, metal, infrastructure (capital goods + power) and technology stocks. ADAG (Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group) stocks rallied strongly in the largecaps while textile stocks surged in the midcap space.

Better-than-expected revival in the US consumer confidence index and second list of government formation announced by the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government helped the Sensex to post 500 points rally and the Nifty to surpass the 4250 level. The US consumer confidence index increased to 54.9 in May from 40.8 in April, as against expectation of 42. It was highest since September 2008. Consumer spending accounts for roughly two-thirds of the US economy.

The UPA government has released its second list of 59 Cabinet members. The government had already announced list of 19 Cabinet Ministers on Saturday. Vilasrao Deshmukh, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Dayanidhi Maran, A Raja, M S Gill, Pawan Kumar Bansal and M K Alagiri were among the 59 members.

The markets also gained strength after the comments from the country's finance minister, Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee. In his first official press conference, he said he would focus on infrastructure in the Budget and would also address long-pending reforms for the financial sector.

Mukherjee also said the fiscal prudence will need to be kept in mind. ''We are assessing the impact of the three doses of stimuli that have been already provided to the economy.''

The 30-share Sensex closed 520.41 points or 3.83% higher at 14,109.64, after hitting an intraday high of 14,122.78. The 50-share NSE Nifty surged 3.87% or 159.35 points, to settle at 4,276.05; it touched a high of 4286.45. Both the indices recouped all Tuesday's losses.