Sensex surges 142 points in early trade

The benchmark BSE Sensex spurted nearly 142 points in early trade today on the back of across-the-board buying by funds and retail investors on hopes that the reform measures in next week's Union Budget will boost the country's economic growth.

The BSE 30-share barometer, which had gained 37.25 points in Friday's session, rose 141.73 points, or 0.56%, to 25,241.65 with all the sectoral indices, led by consumer durables, capital goods and power, trading in positive zone with gains up to 0.93%.

Similarly, the broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty gained 37.05 points, or 0.49%, to 7,545.85. Brokers said besides a firming trend on other Asian bourses, increased buying by funds and retail investors on hopes of strong reform measures in the forthcoming Union Budget next week, buoyed the trading sentiments. In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.22%, while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.13% in early trade today.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.03% higher in Friday's trade.