Sensex soars 154 points as Feb F&O series takes off in style

The benchmark BSE Sensex rallied about 154 points to 24,623.56 in early session today on fresh buying push from investors as the February derivatives series was off to a solid start amid positive Asian cues.

The 30-share Sensex, which lost 22.82 points in the previous choppy session, recouped 153.99 points, or 0.62 per cent, at 24,623.56. Except banking, all sectoral indices of BSE led by consumer durables, metal and oil and gas were in the positive zone, rising by up to 1.85 per cent.

The NSE Nifty jumped 54.35 points, or 0.73 per cent, to 7,479. Brokers said build-up of bets following the beginning of the February futures and options (F&O) series led to the rebound.

A firming trend at other Asian markets led by Japan after the Bank of Japan surprised markets by announcing a negative interest rate policy buoyed sentiment here too, they said.

However, shares of ICICI Bank and Maruti Suzuki fell 3.86 per cent 1.72 per cent, respectively, dragged down by muted third quarter earnings announced after trading hours yesterday.

Japan’s Nikkei climbed 3.21 per cent, Shanghai Composite rose 2 per cent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 2.05 per cent in early trade. The US markets ended 0.79 per cent higher in yesterday’s trade on higher oil prices and strong corporate earnings.