Sensex soars 684 points to end at near 3-year high

The BSE Sensex surged over 3 per cent on Thursday with the benchmark index marking its highest close in nearly three years, led by banks, after the U.S. Federal Reserve surprised the markets by sticking to its stimulus plan.

The NSE bank index jumped 6.75 per cent on hopes that after the Fed move the Reserve Bank of India would have greater flexibility if it wants to gradually roll back some of the cash tightening steps it initiated since mid-July.

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan is widely expected to keep the policy rate and the cash reserve ratio unchanged in his monetary policy review on Friday, according to a Reuters poll. The poll, which was conducted before the Fed decision, also expects the July cash tightening steps to be retained.

Analysts add that the Fed decision may lead to a resurgence of much needed portfolio flows into emerging markets like India. Foreign institutional investors have already bought more than Rs 7,500 crore worth of Indian shares over the previous 10 sessions.

"RBI can withdraw fully or partially some of the extraordinary liquidity tightening it had done to support INR, including ceiling on LAF and steep hike in MSF," said Motilal Oswal, chairman and managing director, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Speeding up financial sector reforms, too, would act as confidence and growth boosters, Oswal added.

The Sensex surged 3.4 per cent, or 684.48 points, to end at 20,646.64, after earlier rising as much as 3.9 per cent, marking its highest level since November 11, 2010.

The broader Nifty rose 3.7 per cent, or 216.10 points, to end at 6,115.55, marking its highest close since May 2013.

Bank shares surged on hopes the Reserve Bank of India, in its policy review on Friday, would ease some of its emergency cash tightening steps.

Among private sector banks, ICICI Bank rose 6.5 per cent and HDFC Bank was up 5 per cent.

Among banks dependent on wholesale deposits, Yes Bank jumped 22.4 per cent while Indusind Bank rose 5.4 per cent.

Among state-owned banks, State Bank of India rose 8 per cent while Bank of Baroda surged 8.8 per cent.

Shares in state-owned oil retailers also gained as a rally in the rupee against the dollar was seen easing concerns about higher cost of crude oil imports and dollar debt, dealers said.

Hindustan Petroleum Corp gained 3.6 per cent, Bharat Petroleum Corporation surged 6.5 per cent, while Indian Oil Corp rose 1.7 per cent.

GMR Infrastructure rose 5.6 per cent, totalling a gain of 10.3 per cent in three sessions, after the company sold its majority stake in a highway construction unit for about $35 million to reduce its debt.

Ranbaxy Laboratories gained 4.7 per cent on value buying, totalling a gain of 10 per cent in three consecutive sessions, after a ruling from the U.S. health regulator on its Mohali factory triggered the worst single-day fall in its stock on Monday, wiping off a third of its market value.

However, among decliners, Tech Mahindra fell 1.5 per cent after shares turned ex-dividend on Thursday.

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013