Sensex crosses 18K level, gains 227 points in early trade

A view of the BSE building in Mumbai. File photo The Hindu A view of the BSE building in Mumbai. File photo The BSE benchmark Sensex shot up by over 227 points in early trade on Wednesday on a sustained buying by funds and retail investors amid positive cues from global markets. Extending gains for the fourth straight session, the 30-share index, which had gained almost 668 points in the past three days, rose by 227.07 points, or 1.27 per cent, to trade above the 18,000 points level at 18,040.69. It has touched the 18,000-level after two weeks. Brokers said continued buying by funds and retail investors amid a firm trend in Asian markets, following overnight gains in the U.S. markets on upbeat economic data, triggered fresh spell of buying activity on the domestic bourses. All sectoral indices, led by metal and capital goods, were trading in the positive territory with gains up to 1.72 per cent. The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty moved up by 69.90 points, or 1.28 per cent, to 5,499.40. They said, however, fears of a hike in freight rates in the Rail Budget 2012 to be presented today, restricted the gains to some extent. Meanwhile, in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose by 1.21 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei index was up by 2.03 per cent. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.68 per cent to reach highest level since December 31, 2007, in yesterday’s trade.