Sensex surges 300 pts on broadbased buying; Bankex up 3%

Indian equity benchmarks extended gains with the BSE Sensex rising 300 points and Nifty 100 points led by broadbased buying. Buying was seen in most beaten down sectors like metals and banks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex shot up 304 points to 16,944 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 100 points at 5,143 while the broader markets were up over 1%.

But Vibhav Kapoor of IL&FS feels the upside is capped at 5180-5200 on the Nifty in the near-term. According to him, investors will be quite disappointed if the government doesn't act in a month or so. Moreover, Kapoor says the impact of the weak monsoon has not been fully factored in yet.

Across the board buying helped the market bounce back. Metal and Bankex were up 3% each. Realty, Power, Capital Goods, Oil & Gas, FMCG and Auto rose 1.5-2%.

Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank spiked 4% ahead of first quarter numbers. Analysts on an average expect the net profit to grow by 30% year-on-year to Rs 1,730 crore in the quarter. Its rivals State Bank of India and HDFC Bank were up 2% and 3%, respectively.

Top commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors, and metals stocks like Tata Steel, Sterlite Industries and Hindalco topped the buying list with gain of 4%-5%.

Housing finance company HDFC and state-owned oil & gas producer ONGC went up 1% each. Telecom operator Bharti Airtel rallied 3%.

Cigareette major ITC, oil & gas producer Reliance Industries and engineering & construction major Larsen & Toubro climbed 1.7% each.

However, two-wheeler major Hero Motocorp was the only loser among largecaps with loss of 1.5%.