Sensex surges 198 pts, Nifty regains 9,900 level

The Sensex rose 198 points and the

Nifty recaptured the 9,900 mark in the opening trade today

after buying in realty, oil and gas and banking stocks paced

up.

Speculators were busy covering up short positions ahead

of the September derivatives contract expiry tomorrow, which

added to the upward move.

The BSE 30-share barometer went up 197.70 points, or 0.62

per cent, to 31,797.46. The gauge had lost 824 points in the

previous six sessions, in line with a general weakness across

the globe fuelled by escalating worries about Korean

peninsula.

Sectoral indices led by realty, oil and gas, consumer

durables, auto and banking were in the green, adding up to

1.65 per cent.

The NSE Nifty was also higher by 49.55 points, or 0.50

per cent, to trade at 9,921.05.

Traders said gains at most other Asian markets despite

rising US-North Korea tensions had a bearing here.

Besides, continuous pumping in of funds by domestic

institutional investors (DIIs) supported the market.

Maruti Suzuki surged the most among Sensex components,

gaining 0.85 per cent, followed by PowerGrid (0.71 per cent).

Other gainers included Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, TCS,

HDFC Bank and M&M, rising by up to 0.64 per cent.

However, telecom segment stocks such as Bharti Airtel,

Idea Cellular and Reliance Communication were under pressure

and fell by up to 1.05 per cent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.44 per cent while Shanghai

Composite gained 0.05 per cent. Japan's Nikkei, however, shed

0.29 per cent.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended lower by 0.05 per

cent yesterday.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)