Sensex sails past 17k, up 360 pts; Nifty crosses 5000 again @ 14:21 hrs

The market has rallied sharply in mid afternoon trade thanks to hectic buying across the board. Information technology and oil stocks are leading the charge up north. FMCG, bank, metal and auto stocks have also posted strong gains.

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A host of stocks from consumer durables, pharma, realty and power sectors have rallied sharply. Capital goods stocks, which were seen struggling earlier this afternoon, are up with notable gains now.

The Sensex, which had retreated a bit about an hour ago, rallied past the magical 17,000 mark to 17,030.91 as buying in blue chip stocks gathered momentum, and is currently up with a big gain of 360.63 points or 2.17% at 17,003.29.

The Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange is up 2.07% or 102.60 points at 5047.80.

Buoyant industrial production numbers and expectations of strong results from India Inc. are driving stock prices up sharply this afternoon. According to the data released around noon today, India's industrial output rose 10.4% in August from a year earlier. The rise was far higher than estimates and the steepest rise in 22 months. Manufacturing production rose 10.2% in August from a year earlier.

State Bank of India has gained over 4% at Rs 2150. ITC, Tata Consultancy Services, Reliance Industries, Reliance Infrastructure, Wipro, Sun Pharmaceuticals and Infosys Technologies have gained 3% - 4%.

Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, Sterlite Industries, HDFC, Maruti Suzuki, DLF, Jaiprakash Associates, ONGC, ICICI Bank, NTPC, Tata Steel and Larsen & Toubro have moved up 1% - 2.75% over their previous closing levels.

Tata Communications has gained over 3%. Punjab National Bank, Axis Bank, Jindal Steel, Unitech, Idea Cellular, HCL Technologies, Reliance Capital, Suzlon Energy, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Cairn India, Reliance Power and ABB have also risen sharply this afternoon.

Source: http://sify.com