Business – Vitals

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which climbed up shortly after opening bell on steady worldwide signals, continued to hold gains in noon, trading 1.63% up as against its last closure.

The Sensex, which belled the day at 16,786.28, stood at 17,014.19, up 272.35 points, while the broad-based Nifty was ruling 1.77% up at 5,108.65.

Broader markets indices were also trading in the positive, with the BSE midcap index trading 0.96% higher and the BSE smallcap index 1.2% up.

Among other Asian markets, the Japanese Nikkei closed 3.24% up at 9,914.19.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng remained up, taking strength from the rally in US markets yesterday. It stood at 19,821.76 after surging 1.8%.

The South Korean Kospi was trading 1.93% up at 1,661.84.

But, the Shanghai composite index declined 0.73% at 2,552.66.

European markets opened on a strong note tracking good buying action in battered oil stocks and news of good auto and housing facts from the US.

The FTSE 100 remained up by 1.54% to trade at 5,230.52, while its German peer DAX was ruling 1.93% at 6,096.58.

The French CAC 40 too was up 2.14% at 3,576.47.