Sensex gains over 84 points

The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose 26 points, or 0.49 per cent to 5,359.55. The Reserve Bank had slashed CRR on Friday to infuse liquidity - around Rs 48,000 crore - in the financial system. Meanwhile, driven by strong performance of the manufacturing sector, industrial output rose to 7-month high of 6.8 per cent in January, suggesting that economic recovery may be round the corner, brokers said.

Led by SBI, bank stocks rallied on the bourses following the RBI cutting the cash reserve ratio by 0.75 percentage point to infuse liquidity in the system. The Sensex heavyweight Reliance Industries shot up 3.02 per cent. Global markets, however, exhibited a weak trend amid China`s biggest trade deficit in at least 22 years.

The capital goods sector index gained the most and rose 2.56 per cent to 10,449.24, led by Larsen and Toubro, BHEL, Siemens India and Havells India. The banking sector index was up by 1.22 per cent to 12,233.86 following a rise in stocks of SBI, ICICI Bank, Bank of India, IDBI Bank, Axis Bank and Punjab National Bank.