Sensex ends 208 points higher; IT, FMCG, metals, pvt banks up

Equity benchmarks rallied sharply in last one hour of trade, led by buying in technology, private financial, metal, FMCG, PSU oil & gas and healthcare companies' shares. The Sensex gained more than 200 points for the first time since August 2, 2010. But the Nifty have still been in a range of 5400-5500 for fourth consecutive week.

Deven Choksey, Managing Director of KR Choksey Securities sees the Nifty around 5560 in near term. "Unless you are going to see large sell off, we would probably believe that we are on course to 5560 as far as Nifty is concerned and that is where the long position buildup in the market with higher amount of open interest created could probably get justified at some point of time," he said.

Trader Atul Suri says a correction in the short-term is likely but he continues to be bullish on the markets. ''In fact the Nifty looks bullish till it holds above 4,350,''  he says.

However, the sell-off in heavyweights like Reliance Industries, SBI and BHEL along with telecom and select power companies' shares capped the gains to some extent today.

The 30-share BSE Sensex closed at 18,257.12, up 208.27 points or 1.15% and the 50-share NSE rose 65 points or 1.2% to settle at 5,479.15. The broader indices gained 0.7-0.85%. The Nifty August futures ended at 12 points premium, as per provisional data.

The BSE IT Index was the biggest gainer among sectoral indices; rose 2%. TCS, Wipro, HCL Tech and Infosys rallied 2-3%. In the metal space, Hindalco surged 4.7%; SAIL, Jindal Steel and Tata Steel gained 1.6%.