| Inflation rate for the week to June 16 was 4.03 per cent, lower than 4.28 per cent a week earlier and 4.13 per cent estimated and also below the Reserve Bank of India's target of 5 per cent for 2007-08. |
| The Sensex and the Nifty extended gains after inflation data was released. |
| "The outlook on interest rates has improved due to softer inflation rate for the past few weeks. Also investors are churning portfolios ahead of the earnings season which starts next week," a dealer said. |
| The rise today was also supported by firmness in other Asian markets, which rallied after the US Federal Reserve said that economic growth in the largest consumer of Asian goods would continue. |
| The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex ended at 14650.51, up 145.94 points or 1.0 per cent, after touching a low of 14574.45 and a high of 14663.25 intraday. |
| The National Stock Exchange Nifty ended at 4318.30, up 36.30 points or 0.9 per cent. |
| It moved between a low and high of 4280.95 and 4321.35 during the session. |
| The CNX Midcap Index ended up 1.5 per cent and the S&P CNX 500 Index up 1.1 per cent. |
| The biggest Nifty gainers were - Reliance Energy, up 5.7 per cent at Rs 613, and ABB, up 5.6 per cent at Rs 1,094. |
| ABB's five-for-one stock-split came into effect from Thursday. |
| The combined turnover on NSE and BSE together was Rs 15,500 crore. |
| Banks were the biggest sectoral gainers as lower-than-expected inflation data has revived hope RBI will not hike benchmark interest rates at its next meet on July 31. |
| "The lower inflation is only because of higher base. Manufacturing growth continues and credit demand has not slowed significantly. So a slight spike in inflation could prompt the RBI to hike interest rates," Ravikant Bhat, analyst at IDBI Capital Market Services, said. |
| Punjab National Bank ended up 5.5 per cent at Rs 541, and HDFC Bank, up 4.5 per cent at Rs 1,147. The CNX Bank Nifty gained 3.3 per cent. |
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