Sensex jumps 17.45% in April; best in 10 years

MUMBAI: The BSE Sensex rallied 3.65 percent on Wednesday and propelled gains to more than 17 percent in April, its best monthly performance in

10 years, as a wave of improved investor confidence swept across the world.

Foreign funds led the buying, pumping in more than $1.4 billion in April 1-27, their biggest inflow since October 2007. The rally was also powered by expectations India's economy would pick up later this year.

The 30-share BSE index jumped 401.50 points to 11,403.25, its highest since Oct. 14 last year. It rose 0.65 percent in the holiday-shortened week, taking the weekly winning streak to eight and matching the run of gains in September to October 2007.

The benchmark rose 17.45 percent in April, making it the best-performing major Asian index this month.

Outsourcer Infosys Technologies, energy giant Reliance Industries and private-sector lender ICICI Bank were among the major gainers as the rally drew fence-sitters into the market.

"There was a lot of money sitting on the sidelines, and once momentum in a market picks up, the people sitting on the sidelines automatically jump into it," Ambareesh Baliga, vice president at Karvy Stock Broking, said.

Much of the early rise was led by short-covering on the last day of monthly derivatives and then the momentum swept the market higher despite a four-day weekend ahead and concerns of a possible flu pandemic in some countries