Sensex zooms 458 pts in early trade

The Bombay Stock Market benchmark Sensex gained 458 points in early trade on Monday on brisk buying by funds.

The 30-share index, which closed with a gain of 326 points on Friday, shot up by 457.69 points to 19,310.56 point in the first five minutes of trade.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index, Nifty, rose by 129.25 points to 5,737.85 as most of the heavy-weight shares recorded notable gains.

The trading sentiment was boosted by reports of a steep rise in Asian stock markets such as Hang Seng and Kospi.