Auto and FMCG stocks surged up to 8 per cent Friday as investors welcomed incentives for the agriculture sector and the middle class.

Shares of Hero MotoCorp jumped 7.48 per cent, Maruti Suzuki India rose 4.96 per cent, Eicher Motors 3.16 per cent, TVS Motor Company 3.02 per cent, Ashok Leyland 2.95 per cent, Bosch 2.47 per cent, Apollo Tyres 1.96 per cent, Bajaj Auto 1.93 per cent, Mahindra & Mahindra 1.07 per cent, Bharat Forge 0.52 per cent and Tata Motors gained 0.28 per cent on the BSE.

The BSE Auto index rose 2.65 per cent to close at 18,985.17.

Among fast moving consumer goods, KRBL surged 7.90 per cent, JK Agri 5.65 per cent, Ruchi Soya Industries 4.94 per cent, Future Consumer 4.56 per cent, Zydus Wellness 4.52 per cent, Marico 2.60 per cent, HUL 1.93 per cent and Dabur India 1.93 per cent.

The FMCG index closed at 11,748.28, up 1.14 per cent.

"The outcome of interim budget has been marginally better-than-expected by the market as it provided incentives to small farmers and the common man, while maintaining a rationality in the long-term. For the market, in the short-term, it has provided a good signal since the interim budget will not trouble the economic accountancy and populist agenda.

"These measures are positive for consumption-oriented sectors like FMCG, consumer staples and durables and auto and has attracted investor interest," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

"The push to consumption by way of sops to farmers and middle class families has resulted in buying in auto and FMCG stocks," said Dhiraj Relli, MD and CEO, HDFC Securities.

Making a big populist push in its final budget before elections, the Narendra Modi-government Friday exempted people with an income of up to Rs 5 lakh from payment of income tax, announced an annual cash dole-out of Rs 6,000 to small farmers and provided a monthly pension of Rs 3,000 to workers in the unorganised sector.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)