#BusinessNews: Sensex gains 400 points to regain 23,000-mark in early trade, Nifty reclaims 7,100-mark

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• At 1037 hours, the Sensex was trading up 455.30 points or 1.98% to 23,441.42 intraday on the stock exchange.

• The NSE Nifty reclaimed the 7,100-mark by climbing 130.55 points, or 1.87%, at 7,111.50.

The market benchmark BSE Sensex zoomed over 400 points to rise above 23,000-mark in early trade on Monday following widespread gains as investors widened their bets amid a firming trend in other Asian markets. However, caution prevailed in view of muted macroeconomic data.

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The 30-share index, which gained 34.29 points in the previous session, added 404.23 points or 1.75% to 23,390.358 with all the sectoral indices led by metal, realty and oil and gas leading the gains. At 1037 hours, the Sensex was trading up 455.30 points or 1.98% to 23,441.42 intraday on the stock exchange.

The NSE Nifty reclaimed the 7,100-mark by climbing 130.55 points, or 1.87%, at 7,111.50.

Brokers said a flurry of buying by investors in blue-chips available at attractive levels amid a firming trend in other Asian markets, tracking weakened gains at the US markets, mainly influenced the sentiment.

Meanwhile, industrial production declined for the second month in a row, registering negative growth of 1.3% in December, while retail inflation in January rises marginally to 5.69% from 5.61% in December.

Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was trading higher by 2.62%, while Nikkei surged by 5.12% in early trade as investors shrugged off a contraction in Japan's economy during the final quarter of 2015. Shanghai's Composite Index, however, was down 1.57 points.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 2% higher on Friday.

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