Positive global cues boost mkts; Metals shine, Power gains

It was a spectacular session for the markets. Positive global cues led by announcement of China's USD 586 billion economic stimulus package, helped benchmark indices to remain strong. However, volumes have been quite tepid at around Rs 44,000 crore. Metal sector was the leader in today's rally followed by power, capital goods, telecom, oil & gas and technology sectors. Midcap and small cap stocks were also in the limelight.

The Sensex rose 571.87 points or 5.74%, to close at 10,536.16, after hitting an intraday high of 10,570.58. The 50-share Nifty Fifty gained 175.25 points or 5.89%, to settle at 3148.25. It has hit a high of 3161.25.

BSE Midcap Index was up by 119.71 points 3.57% to 3,475.09 and Small Cap Index jumped 87.93 points or 2.25% to 3,988.03.

Volumes were very low; total traded turnover stood at Rs 43,245.80 crore. This includes Rs 30,290.49 crore from NSE F&O segment, Rs 9,261.71 crore from NSE cash and the balance Rs 3,693.60 crore from BSE Cash segment.

Major Asian markets posted strong rally, as China announced USD 586 million package and Taiwan cut rate. Shanghai closed higher by 7.27% and Nikkei jumped 5.81%. Hang Seng rose 3.52%. Straits Times and Kospi were up 1-1.6%. Jakarta and Taiwan ended flat.

After announcement of China's economic stimulus package, base metal prices surged and Japanese Yen fell. Copper Futures jumped 8%, Nickel up 11%, Lead & Zinc gained 5% and aluminum was up 4%. BHP Billiton, Arcelor-Mittal and ABB jumped over 8% in the European markets.

European markets were trading higher. FTSE, CAC and DAX rose at around 3.5% each. Dow Jones and Nasdaq Futures were up 164 points and 25.50 points respectively, at 3:48 pm.