Shares of real estate firms on Wednesday surged as much as 5% on the Bombay Stock Exchange, led by heavyweight DLF, on fresh buying across the counter despite the benchmark Sensex slipping into the red.

Mirroring the gains in the sectoral stocks, the BSE Realty index gained 4.78% at 2,428.41 points.

The country's largest realty developer, DLF, surged 7.89 % to Rs 254.90 on BSE following announcement that the promoters would offload their 9.01% in the firm.

The scrip witnessed heavy buying as over 17.31 crore shares changed hands on BSE.

Unitech gained 3.24% to Rs 52.65 in the morning trade and Indiabulls Real Estate was up 6.19% at Rs 152.75 on BSE.

Marketmen said the announcement by the heavyweight DLF boosted investors' sentiments and they flocked the counter.

Financial Express