Market surges on strong Q1 GDP

Mumbai, Aug 31: The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex rallied for the fifth straight session, surging by 196 points today to settle above the 15,300 level at 15,318.60 as investors took to index pivotals, buoyed by robust gross domestic product (GDP) growth declining inflation and firm Asian and European markets.

India's wholesale price index (inflation) slipped below the 4 per cent mark at 3.94 per cent in the week ended Aug 18, lower than the previous week's 4.10 per cent due to a decline in some manufactured product prices, official data released today showed. The annual inflation rate was 5.12 per cent in the corresponding week of the previous year.

India's economy (GDP) in this year's April-June quarter grew at 9.3 per cent from a year earlier, led by robust manufacturing and services. Manufacturing grew at an annual 11.9 per cent in the quarter, however, lower than the 12.4 per cent in the previous quarter. Services grew at an annual pace of 10.6 per cent, while farming expanded by 3.8 per cent, official data released today revealed.

Besides, the economic growth of 9.4 per cent in the fiscal year that ended in March was its fastest rate in 18 years, economists pointed our adding that the central bank has now set a target of 8.5 per cent growth this fiscal.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) S&P CNX Nifty also settled in the green.

BSE data shows that the market breadth was strong with 1,653 shares advancing as compared to 1,049 that declined, while 73 remained unchanged. Turnover surged in the last one hour of trade, clocking Rs 5,038 crore. From the 30-stock Sensex pack, 24 advanced while six declined.

Tata Steel, Mahindra&Mahindra, Tata Motors, Maruti Udyog, NTPC, Reliance Industries (RIL) and SBI were the day's leaders, while the prominent laggards included Bajaj Auto, Hindalco Industries, HDFC Bank and HDFC.

All the European markets were today trading higher. Key benchmark indices in UK, Germany and France gained.

All the Asian markets settled higher today. Japan's Nikkei, Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, China's Shanghai Composite, Singapore's Straits Times and South Korea's Seoul Composite, all edged higher by 0.99 per cent to 3 per cent.

However, US stocks fell yesterdayon mounting concerns that credit market upheaval will erode profits and hold back consumer spending.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 50.56 points, or 0.38 per cent, to 13,238.73. The Standard&Poor's 500 Index was down 6.12 points, or 0.42 per cent, to 1,457.64. But, the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 2.14 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 2,565.30.

UNI