NSG waiver buoys markets, Sensex rises by 461 points

The markets gave a thumbs-up to India's joining the elite nuclear club with the benchmark Sensex notching up a gain of over 460 points but fell short of the psychological 15,000 level by a whisker.

The BSE barometer, which had lost over 415 in the previous trading session, today moved up by 461.14 points at 14,944.97.

 The 30-share rose to the intra-day high of 15,107.01 points on strong buying support.

Similarly, wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose by 130 points at 4,482.30. It touched the day's high of 4,558.00 and a low of 4,358.30 points.

Marketmen said investor sentiment got a big boost after India secured a waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group for trade in atomic energy.

They said US government's takeover of mortgage majors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac boosted the hopes that global economy can weather the sub-prime crisis.

On BSE, banking stocks came out as the biggest gainer of the day with their sectoral index rising by a handsome 4.06 per cent. Realty index was also up by 3.177 per cent, while the consumer goods index closed higher by 3.70 per centfollowed by power at 3.336 per cent.

IT stocks also attracted buying and the sectoral index gained 2.28 per cent.

Among the capital goods sector, heavyweight Larsen & Toubro and Bharat Heavy Electricals and NTPC,  all power companies, gained on speculation that they would be among the biggest beneficiaries of NSG waiver.

Larsen climbed 4.6 per cent, BHEL 3.40 per cent and NTPC Ltd 4.58 per per cent and Hindustan Construction by 7.4 per cent.

Banking stocks advanced after the US government said it is taking over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The biggest surge in mortgage defaults in three decades threatened to bring down the two companies, which account for almost half of the US home loan market.

State Bank of India rose by 4.8 per cent, HDFC Bank 4.3 per cent and ICICI Bank Ltd by 4.9 per cent.

Metal index spurted by 229.27 points at 12,015.04, Oil and Gas index by 195.38 points at 9848.06, Realty index by 157.74 points at 5137.00, PSU index by 150.05 points at 7040.21, IT index by 89.69 points at 4031.43, power index by 88.36 points at 2715.66, Tech index by 61.29 points at 3099.28 and healthcare index by 40.07 points at 4298.11.