The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange surged 277 points, or 1.7 percent, to a 5-week high of 16,466, today, on continued buying by foreign funds, on hopes of better GDP growth, and rising overseas markets. The Nifty at the National Stock Exchange jumped 93 points, or 1.9 percent, to 4,967.

Stock markets in Japan, China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore rose between 1 percent and 4 percent, after data showed that the Chinese economy grew at a faster-than-expected pace in the fourth quarter of 2011.