All-round buying pushes Sensex up 280 points

The BSE benchmark Sensex today spurted by 280 points to regain the 17,000-level on good buying support which, analysts said, are likely to continue for a few more sessions on the back of firming global stocks.

Rising for the second day in succession, the Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share index ended 1.68% up or 280.49 points at 17,022.33. The last time the Sensex closed above the 17,000 mark was on May 13.

The National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty closed up 1.81% at 5,110.5.

Hectic buying was seen across sectors. Banking, technology, oil and gas and IT stocks particularly gained.

"The market was oversold in past month on worries of euro zone debt crisis and the rise was due. In coming sessions also, we may see upside trend as globally markets are rebounding," CNI Research CMD Kishore P Ostwal said.

Anil Ambani Group firm RCOM, which surged 11% yesterday amid reports of stake sale by the company, maintained its winning streak with 6.3 per gain, the best among sensex stocks today.

The scrip has gained 18% in just two sessions amid reports that UAE based Etisalat is interested in the firm for a possible stake buy.

Reliance Industries, which carries the maximum weight in benchmark indices, jumped 1.90%.

Investors ignored a rise a rise in country's food price index. Food inflation for the week ended May 22 rose to 16.55%.

Among banking stocks, HDFC Bank rose 2.76%, SBI 1.22%, ICICI Bank 1.14% and HDFC 0.88%.

Tata Motors advanced 3.06%, HUL 4.02% and L&T 1.94%.

Among the frontline IT stocks, Infosys climbed 2%, TCS 1.16% and Wipro 0.84%.

Helped by heavy buying by overseas fund houses, all the 30 scrips forming Sensex ended with gains.

On the global front, a widespread rise was seen among all the major indices. In Asia, Japan was the best performer, with Nikkei index surging 3.2%.

However, China's Shanghai index lagged and finished in red.

European stocks edged higher and were firm in the mid-day trade. The US markets rose overnight on reports of strong home sales, boosted the investor sentiment across the globe.