The benchmark Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) had its biggest gain in about a week after India won the right to buy nuclear energy supplies for the first time in about three decades.
The Sensex rose 461 points or 3.2 per cent, to close at 14,944 after crossing the 15,000-mark, its biggest advance since September 2. The broader index S&P CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange gained 130 points or 3 per cent to close at 4,482.30.
India won the right to buy nuclear energy supplies after the 45-country Nuclear Suppliers Group on September 6 granted a waiver for sales to the country outside the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
| TOP GAINERS (after Nuclear Deal) | |||
| (Share Price in Rs) | Sep-05 | Sep-08 | %chg |
| Alstom Projects | 396.55 | 421.90 | 6.39 |
| Power Grid | 92.95 | 97.70 | 5.11 |
| Larsen & Toubro | 2616.25 | 2737.45 | 4.63 |
| NTPC | 173.45 | 181.40 | 4.58 |
| Reliance Infrastructure | 1015.85 | 1058.40 | 4.19 |
| Torrent Power | 112.40 | 117.00 | 4.09 |
| CESC | 327.64 | 340.25 | 3.85 |
| Reliance Power | 162.90 | 168.95 | 3.71 |
| Neyveli Lignite | 113.25 | 117.15 | 3.44 |
| BHEL | 1731.75 | 1790.55 | 3.40 |
| Sensex | 14483.83 | 14944.97 | 3.18 |
Among the major gainers were stocks expected to benefit from the deal. Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Bhel), the nation's biggest power-equipment maker, and Larsen & Toubro (L&T), the country's largest engineering company, gained more than 3 per cent on expectations that they will win orders for power-generation equipment.
Banking shares advanced after the US government said it was taking over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The biggest surge in mortgage defaults in three decades threatened to bring down the two companies, which account for almost half the US home-loan market.
ICICI Bank, the nation's second-biggest bank by assets, rose 4.9 per cent to Rs 720.45, the highest since August 12.
State-owned State Bank of India, the largest lender, advanced 4.7 per cent to Rs 1,591.75, its highest since August 11. HDFC Bank Ltd, the third-biggest, climbed 4.2 per cent to Rs 1,301.10.
According to Gagan Banga, chief executive officer at Indiabulls Securities Ltd, markets may stabilise around these levels as long as global crude oil prices are below $115. "In the short run the Sensex is likely to move in the range of 14,500-15,500 before it receives guidance from the second-quarter financial results of the companies."