By IANS,
Mumbai : A benchmark index for Indian equities markets was up 138 points in the late afternoon trading Wednesday on hopes of more foreign institutional investment after US President Barrack Obama won a second term in office.
Bank, auto, metal and capital goods stocks saw increased buying interest.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened in the negative at 18,802.82 points, was trading at 18,955.54 points in the late afternoon session, up 0.73 percent or 138.16 points from its previous day close at 18,817.38 points.
An Obama win early Wednesday wiped away the uncertainty that had pervaded markets across the globe for the past few days. In India, traders, investors and dealers believe that another round of quantitative easing (QE), or loose monetrary policy, can now be expected leading to greater FII flows into the capital market.
The benchmark Sensex touched a high of 18,973.43 points and a low of 18,786.14 points in intra-day trade. BSE midcap index was up by 69.39 points, while the smallcap index was higher by 60.81 points.
The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange was ruling 0.83 percent or 47.75 points higher at 5,772.15 points.
On the sectoral front, the BSE bank index was up by 182.61 points followed by the auto index, up 144.05 points, metal index, up 93.57 points, and capital goods index, up 86.46 points.
Other Asian markets were also on a high. Japan’s Nikkei was up by 0.71 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed 0.68 percent higher. Shanghai’s Composite Index was down by 0.16 percent.