Bounce at Wall Street; Sensex zooms 371pts

Mumbai, Aug 20: The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex today opened remarkably higher at 14,512.28, with a gain of 371 points, from it's previous close of 14,141.52, following a strong rebound in US markets during the last trading session.

''Shares from the fertiliser sector rallied on reports that the government is considering a new investment policy for the fertiliser industry,'' market analysts said.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) S&P CNX Nifty also opened marginally higher by 0.90 points at 4,108.95 from it's previous close of 4,108.05.

By the end of the first session, the market breadth, in sync with overall buoyant broad market, was strong as small-cap and mid-cap stocks resumed their rally. The market breadth was strong as 2,003 shares advanced as compared to 464 that declined, while 35 remained unchanged.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 1.90 per cent to 6,378.24 while the BSE Small-Cap index rose 2.15 per cent to 7,860.23. The total turnover here amounted to Rs 1,327 crore by early noon. All the 30-members of Sensex pack advanced, official data showed.

The early gainers included HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI and Reliance Industries, while Hindustan Copper (HCL) slipped.

All the Asian markets were trading higher today. Japan's Nikkei, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted, China's Shanghai Composite, Singapore's Straits Times and South Korea's Seoul Composite edged higher.

US stocks rallied during the last trading session, after posting losses for six consecutive previous trading sessions as the Federal Reserve cut its key discount rate by 0.5 per cent to 5.75 per cent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 233.30 points, or 1.82 per cent, to 13,079.08. The Standard&Poor's 500 index rose 34.67 points, or 2.46 per cent, to 1,445.94 and the Nasdaq Composite index was up 53.96 points, or 2.20 per cent, to 2,505.03.

Crude oil fell in New York on signs Hurricane Dean's more southerly track may mean it will miss the largest oil production regions of the Gulf of Mexico. Crude oil for September delivery dropped as much as 94 cents, or 1.3 per cent, to USD 71.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

UNI