New Delhi, Jan 25 (IANS) Indian equities opened on a strong note Friday and shot up further after a marginal fall, in line with developments overseas after the US administration announced a package to arrest the global financial crisis.
The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened Friday at 17,504 points, 282.26 points above the previous day’s close at 17,221.74 points, and soon shot up to a high of 17,880.64 points.
Some 20 minutes into trading, the barometer index was ruling at 17,870.37 points with a gain of an impressive 648.63 points, or 3.77 percent, over Thursday’s close.
Thursday, too, had seen a strong opening, but as trading came to a halt, the key index lost ground and closed at 17,221.74 points with a loss of 372.33 points, or 2.12 percent, over Wednesday’s close, data with the exchange showed.
According to analysts, the positive development in Indian markets was on account of an agreement between the leaders of the US House of Representatives and the Bush administration on a $150 billion package to avoid a recession.
The package included payments to some 115 million Americans to help overcome the mortgage crisis and new tax breaks for both large and small companies in a bid to step up investments.