Mumbai, Nov. 3: Stocks surged and the rupee firmed up after the Reserve Bank of India’s triple booster shot on Saturday.

The BSE sensex surged 549.62 points, while the Indian currency showed a sharp 80 paise gain to close at 48.65 against the dollar.

The central bank’s decision to trim the repo — the short-term benchmark rate — and lower two key reserve ratios for banks sparked hectic buying in heavyweights and interest-rate sensitive segments such as realty and automobiles.

Shares of infrastructure companies gained on the hope that the rate cut would boost their order books.

Sentiment was also buoyed by the fact that the Asian and European indices were trading in the green. In Asia, some of the key indices rallied by 1.44 to 7.64 per cent.

The sensex opened on a strong note at 10209.37. Market observers said some amount of profit booking had pared gains, but the resumption of buying in interest-rate sensitive segments helped the benchmark index close at 10337.68, a gain of 5.62 per cent.

Companies that reported disappointing results also saw their stocks gain because of the RBI action. DLF reported a fall in profits but saw its shares gain nearly 15 per cent to Rs 253.05. Likewise, the Tata Motors scrip rose 11 per cent to Rs 190.

The BSE realty index was the largest percentage gainer with a rise of 8.29 per cent. It was followed by the capital goods sector because of sharp gains made by companies such as Larsen & Toubro.

South Korea move

South Korea has announced plans to pump an extra $11 billion into its economy next year. Finance minister Kang Man-soo said economic growth could fall to its lowest in more than a decade without the stimulus, which will need approval by parliament.