Markets remain on upward march, Sensex up 817 pts

Posting gains for the second straight session on Thursday, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex zoomed by 817 points, with funds, influenced by a firming global trend, buying into stocks.

The Sensex, which recorded a gain of 341 points in the last day's trading, surged further by 817.49 points at 17,766.63 on foreign funds turning active world-wide.

The key index touched the day's high of 17,838.08 points and a low of 17,265.19 points.

Buying sentiments among foreign funds picked up following reports of a faster economic growth rate in Japan and better-than-expected U S retail sales. The reports eased concerns that the world's two biggest economies may slid into a recession.

In similar fashion, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty surged to 52,00.00 by adding 272.55 points. Reflecting volatility in the market, the Nifty touched a high of 5,220.25 and a low of 4,944.65 points.

Major support to the market came in from the capital goods sector with its index gaining the most 1,140.36 points at 16,282.17, followed by metal index by 847.58 points at 15,621.89.

In the capital goods sector, public sector BHEL, a leading manufacturer of thermal power equipment, shot up to four month's high on reports of winning a contract.

Oil and gas index also ended up by 755.38 points at 10,932.36 as the sector's major private refiners Reliance Petroleum and Essar Oil, along with Centurion Bank of Punjab and state-run Steel Authority of India, surged on the announcement of their inclusion in a number of MSCI indices.