Sensex surges over 350 pts on direct tax sops

Mumbai, Feb 26 (PTI) The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark
Sensex surged over 350 points as investors cheered the Union
Budget 2010-11, especially the direct tax sops that will put
more money in the hands of the consumers.
The 30-share Sensex started to climb up sharply soon
after India's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee proposed
changes in the income tax slabs cutting the rate to 10 per
cent for income up to Rs five lakh.
The benchmark index was trading up 346 points at 16,600
at 1330 hrs on the BSE.
"The direct tax sops announced were good for the market
as investors were not expecting anything on the tax front. So
it came as a welcome move. Among the sectors banking, auto and
infrastructure need to be watched," Angel Broking VP Research
Sarabjit Kour Nangra said.
The Sensex skyrocketed on the back of a strong rally
primarily in the auto and bank stocks.
Mahindra & Mahindra rose six per cent, Maruti Suzuki by
four per cent, Tata Motors by six per cent, realty major DLF
by seven per cent, State Bank of India by 4.9 per cent,
private sector lender ICICI Bank by three per cent, Reliance
Infrastructure by five per cent and Reliance Industries by
three per cent.
"It was expected that the government would withdraw the
stimulus package. But the partial rollback came as a breather
for the market. This brought about a rally in the stocks,
specifically in sectors like auto and realty," SMC Global VP
Rajesh Jain said. PTI