Sensex jumps 308 pts in early trade on firm global cues

The benchmark Sensex rallied over 308 points to 23,690.68 and the NSE Nifty regained the 7,200-mark in early trade on across-the-board gains on massive buying by investors largely in tandem with a firming global trend.

The 30-share index, which had gained 189.90 points in the previous volatile session, spurted by another 308.81 points or 1.32 per cent at 23,690.68, with all the sectoral indices led by capital goods, healthcare and metal, trading in the positive zone, rising by up to 1.79 per cent.

The NSE Nifty again went past the crucial 7,200-mark by surging 97.15 points or 1.36 per cent to 7,205.60.

Brokers said buying activity picked up momentum mostly in step with a firming trend at other Asian bourses and overnight gains in the US and European markets on the back of strength in crude oil which boosted sentiment.

Globally, crude soared 7.2 per cent in yesterday's trade after Iran met with other major producers to discuss limiting output.

Among other Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei climbed 2.47 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was trading higher by 2.04 per cent in early trade. Shanghai's Composite index was up 0.23 per cent.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.59 per cent higher yesterday.