(Under arrangement with Thomas White International)*

Helped by the firm trend across other Asian markets, frontline Indian indexes rallied today. They opened with a substantial positive gap and held on to their gains for the rest of the session. Most sectors participated in the rally, which was led by banking and oil & gas.

Sensex closed with gains of 170 points at 13966 and the Nifty gained 57 points to end at 4134. Nifty May futures closed at a premium of 6 points to the spot index.

Reliance Petroleum surged for the second successive session and ended 6.31 per cent higher. The stock was the best performer among Nifty components and has added nearly 14 per cent in 2 sessions

Gail India was the other major gainer among oil & gas stocks, closing 3.69 per cent higher

PSU banking stocks had a very good session. PNB surged 4.67 per cent and SBI rallied 4.58 per cent