SENSEX AT 3MONTH HIGH, RISES 191 PTS

MUMBAI: Rising for a third straight day, the benchmark Sensex recaptured the 35,000mark by surging about 191 points to end at a near three-month high of 35,160 as participants showed optimism in view of the corporate earnings season.

Similarly, the Nifty crossed the 10,700-mark again riding a slew of positive factors, including the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) liberalising ECB policy.

Sentiment got a boost after the RBI on Friday further liberalised the External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) policy by including more sectors in the window, in a bid to facilitate easy access to overseas funds for India Inc, brokers said.

Besides, positive leads from other Asian bourses following last week’s historic North-south Korea summit, fuelling optimism, too had an impact on bourses here. A higher opening in European markets too added to positivity. The gains were led by financial and technology stocks as investors widened their exposure ahead of key corporate results.

The January-march quarterly results posted by companies so far are largely in line with market expectations. Driven by realty, capital goods, IT and banking stocks, the Sensex reclaimed the 35,000-mark at the outset to hit a high of 35,213.30 before ending at 35,160.36, up 190.66 points—or 0.55%.

This is its highest closing since February 1 when it read 35,906.66. The gauge had climbed 468.43 points in the previous two days.