Sensex rises on lower Dec inflation; Axis, ICICI gain

Indian Equity markets picked up momentum following a lower-than-expected December whole sale price index number of 7.18 percent. The BSE and NSE benchmarks witnessed renewed buying interest from investors and operators since morning on the back of persistent foreign capital inflows coupled with higher Asian advices.

At 11.37 hrs IST, the 30-share Sensex was near the high point of the day at 19824.16, up 160.52 points and the 50-share Nifty firmed up 41.55 points or 0.70% to trade at 5992.85.

Private sector banks were faring better than the piblic sector banks. Axis Bank was leading the banking set with 1.56 percent gains followed by ICICI Bank's 1.43 percent rise. On the other hand SBI and PNB were trading with gains of 0.81 percent and 0.31 percent.

Infosys continued to lead indices, appreciating 3.13 percent. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the largest software services exporter in India was up 1.82 percent, following close on the heels of Infosys.