Sensex skyrockets 654 pts at close; Nifty gains 186 pts

The Sensex today recorded 654 points at close,its biggest ever rally in its history, surpassing the 615.62 points gain it had recorded on June 15, 2006. Thanks to the 50 basis points cut in US bank rates and the resultant sharp surge in stocks prices across the globe, had a sweet impact on the major Indian stock exchanges today.

The mood was so upbeat even before trading commenced this morning that the Sensex opened with a very big positive gap of around 271 points at 15,940.79, well past its previous best of 15,868.85 recorded on July 24, 2007. The barometer crossed the 16,000-mark in a flash and added over 300 points after that as buying continued unabated in blue chip stocks right till the end of the session.

While the Sensex, which recorded a new all-time high of 16,335.30, ended the day at 16,322.75 with a whopping gain of 653.63 points or 4.17%, the Nifty, which hit a high of 4739, settled at 4732.35 with a gain of 4.09% or 186.15 points.

Buying was so strong and widespread that all the sectoral indices ended with impressive gains today.

Realty index up by 5.77%
Oil & Gas index up by 5%
Bankex advanced by 4.84%.
Auto, Metal, PSU and Teck indices ended stronger by 3.4% - 3.85%.