Sensex surges 194 points in early trade

The 30-share BSE Sensex shot up by 194.48 points, or 1.15 per cent to trade well above 17,000 points level at 17,043.31 in early trade with all the sectoral indices trading in positive zone with gains up to 2.25 per cent. The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also gained 56.45 points to 5,055.40. Brokers said pick up in buying by foreign funds, sparked by firming trends on the other Asian markets in line with Friday's gains on the US market.

Major gainers, which supported the Sensex were Reliance Industries by 1.29 per cent to Rs 2,143.95, Reliance Infra by 0.99 per cent to Rs 1,164.05, DLF Ltd by 2.54 per cent to Rs 377.90, State Bank of India by 2.43 per cent to Rs 2,354, Sterlite Industries by 2.42 per cent to Rs 857.50, Maruti Suzuki by 2.47 per cent to Rs 1,516.35 and Tata Motors by 1.87 per cent to Rs 631.10. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 1.3 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei 0.15 per cent higher in the morning trade today. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.72 per cent higher on Friday.