Stocks jumped early on Thursday backed by positive global cues and as crude oil retreated from record highs, taking the Sensex past the psychological 13000 mark. Banking, real estate and power shares led the rally.

At 10:05 am, the Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex was up 516 points or 4.1 per cent at 13,091.63. Biggest Sensex gainers were ICICI Bank (7.78%), Jaiprakash Associates (7.14%), HDFC Bank (6.68%), Reliance Infrastructure (6.47%), DLF (5.89%) and Tata Consultancy Services (5.59%).

There were no losers in the 30-share index. Market breadth on BSE showed 758 advances against 88 declines.The National Stock Exchange’s Nifty was up 133 points or 3.48 per cent at 3949.45.

“The Nifty has marginally breached the 3800-4200 range. Resistance lines have moved down to 4108 and 4197 points in the Nifty. Immediate support in declines comes in the 3738-3744 area. Intraday, crucial support is in the 3763-3785 area. The pivot is at 3842 points, which, if sustained, can test 3878-3892 levels. If the supports hold and the Nifty hits a high above 3912 points; we may see some more recovery. To threaten the bears, the Nifty has to decisively close above the resistance levels for 3-4 days otherwise the bears maintain their control,” Religare Securities said in a note.

Asian stocks rose for the first time this week tracking Wall Street gains and oil's retreat from record highs. The Nikkei 225 rose 0.9 per cent, Hang Seng climbed 2.65 per cent and Straits Times advanced 1.67 per cent.

US crude oil futures ended lower for the second day in a row on Wednesday as government inventory data showed surprise increases in crude and gasoline stocks and a larger-than-expected build in distillates. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, August crude was down $4.14, or 2.98 per cent, at $134.60 a barrel, trading between $132, the lowest price since June 25, and $139.30.

US stocks rallied Wednesday as the price of crude slid more than $6 a barrel. Better-than-forecast results from Wells Fargo and Intel offset a big jump in retail-level inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 2.52 per cent, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 2.51 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite Index shot up 3.12 per cent.

Starting this week, inflation data will be released every Thursday at 5 pm instead of midday on Friday. Annual inflation is expected to have hit 12.05 per cent in the first week of July. Analysts are of the opinion that higher inflationary expectations immediately gave rise to fears of further interest rate hikes by the Reserve Bank of India.