Sensex at 2-month high,Nifty above 5K

The biggest gainer of the day was Tata Motors which hit a nine-month high zooming 12.10 pct,after Moodys upgraded it following the turnaround of its luxe marque JLR. Tata Steel was the second best performer gaining 6.18 pct. The BSE auto index charged the Sensex rally gaining 4.29 pct,with M&M also supporting with a 4.65 pct jump.

After a gap-up opening of 243 points,the BSE barometer zoomed to a high of 2.3 pct or 372.05 points to 16,801.60 at the fag-end,recording its best-ever single day rally since December 23,but settled the day a tad down at 16,772.56 points or 343.01 points,clocking a net gain of 2.09 pct.

Similarly,the 50-share NSE Nifty surged by 94.70 points or 1.92 pct to close above 5,000-mark at 5,017. The index zoomed past 74 points in opening deals and touched high of 5,026.95.

CNI Research chairman Kishor Ostwal said,”it’s post-budget rally as the budget has given the direction to the market.”

The market also got support from growth in exports for the third straight month in January at 11.5 per cent.

Marektmen said changes in income tax slabs,which would give more disposable incomes in the hand of individuals and reduced surcharge on corporate tax boosted market sentiment.

The manufacturing output climbed the most in 30 months in February,signalling sales may increase.

CNI’s Ostwal also said “driven by better sales numbers all auto companies gained today followed by cement and steel counters. Sensex ended in the green led by Tata Motors which gained strength on February sale numbers combined with the Moody’s rating which says it may upward its rating on the back of better than Q3 results.”

All sectoral indices ended with sharp to moderate gains with the auto and metals taking the lead and 25 of the Sensex counters closed with major gains.

Foreign fund inflows rose to a record Rs 834.2 billion in 2009,beating the previous high set two years earlier,as the biggest rally in 18 years lured foreign investors.

The Auto index closed higher by 307.82 points or 4.29 pct,Metal by 643.04 points or 3.92 pct,Bankex By 225.00 points or 2.29 pct,FMCG by 56.75 points or 2.13 pct and CG by 257.87 points or 1.91 pct.

Among the major gainers,Tata Motors spurted by 12.10 per cent,Tata Steel 6.18 pct,Tata Power 4.70 pct,M&M 4.65 pct,ACC 4.30 pct,ITC 4.27 pct,Bharti Airtel 3.90 pct,Sterlite 3.62 pct,JP Associates 3.44 pct,Wipro 3.34 pct and Bhel 3.31 pct.

Total market breadth was strong as 2,063 counters ending with gains against only 766 finishing with losses on the BSE.

Total volume dropped sharply to Rs 4,199.13 crore from Rs 5,384.54 crore on last Friday. Tata Motors topped the list of highest traded securities with a turnover of Rs 235.24 crore followed by Tata Steel (Rs 123.55 crore),DLF (Rs 102.41crore),RelCapital (Rs 101.13 crore) and HDIL (Rs 92.59 crore).