Fuel price hike, QE3 drive Sensex 400 pts higher

Indian equity benchmarks rose more than 2% in early trade on Friday as the government hiked diesel price yesterday and the Federal Reserve launched third quantitative easing (QE3). Every stocks among largecaps caught in bull grip with metals, banks, oil & gas and auto indices gaining between 2-3%.

The 30-share BSE Sensex shot up 330.56 points to 18,351.72 and the 50-share NSE Nifty spiked 101 points to 5,536.40. The Indian rupee gained 73 paise to 54.68 against the US dollar.

State-run oil retailers BPCL, HPCL and IOC rose 2-3% as the government reduced under-recoveries of these companies by raising diesel price by Rs 5 a litre yesterday.

The government also capped the use of subsidised LPG to 6 cylinder per family in a year. It has cut excise by Rs 5.3 per litre instead of increasing price of petrol. ONGC gained 1.7% as the company is going to share less subsidy burden.

Country's largest lenders State Bank of India and ICICI Bank were up 3.5-4%. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries, software services exporter Infosys and housing finance company HDFC rose 1.7%.

Among metals stocks, Jindal Steel, Tata Steel and Hindalco spiked 4.5-5%. Commercial vehicle major Tata Motors and top car maker Maruti moved up 3-3.6%.

The CNX Midcap Index jumped 93 points to 7,363. About 11 shares advanced for every share declined on the National Stock Exchange in early trade.

In the second line shares, Essar Oil rallied 5% as the Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the company to pay Rs 5200 crore tax dues in 8 tranches. SC also asked company to pay 10% interest on dues from January 2012.

Aviation stocks continued to their rally for the third consecutive session today. Business Standard reported that cabinet will consider FDI in aviation and broadcast sectors today. Jet Airways was up 2.5%. SpiceJet surged 7% and Kingfisher Airlines gained 10%.

CNBC-TV18 reported that cabinet committe on economic affairs will meet today to consider divestment in five PSUs. Hindustan Copper, Neyveli Lignite, Nalco and Oil India were up 1-4%.

Shares of Yes Bank, HDIL and DLF rallied over 3%.