Sensex leaps 584 points, banking and finance scrips gain

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 9 : Equity benchmark indices closed over 1 per cent higher on Tuesday tracking firm trends in Asian markets with banking and financial names witnessing smart gains.
The BSE S&P Sensex closed 584 points or 1.16 per cent higher at 51,025 while the Nifty 50 ticked up by 142 points or 0.95 per cent to 15,098.
Most sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the positive terrain with Nifty financial service up by 1.7 per cent and private bank by 1.4 per cent. Nifty FMCG and pharma dipped slightly.
Among stocks, cement manufacturer Grasim ticked up by 3.6 per cent to Rs 1,392.40 per share.
SBI Life jumped by 3.5 per cent to Rs 956.75 per share as the company reported new business premium picking up last month.
The other prominent gainers were HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC and Bajaj Finance.
However, Bharat Petroleum Corporation dropped by 4.5 per cent to close at Rs 445.45 per share. Tata Steel, GAIL, IndianOil Corporation, ONGC, Power Grid Corporation and NTPC also closed in the red.
Meanwhile, Asian stocks opened strong, helped mostly by global recovery prospects and the passage of a 1.9 trillion dollar stimulus bill.
Japan's Nikkei 225 added 0.99 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose by 0.81 per cent. But South Korea's Kospi fell by 0.67 per cent on rising bond yields.