Sensex regains 16k in style

The markets recovered towards close following the possibility of lower taxes and listing of public sector firms. The Sensex ended above the 16k mark at 16,063, up 151 points, and the Nifty shut at 4765, higher by 55 points.

The Union Cabinet gave its nod to the divestment of state-run companies making profits in the past three years, with P Chidambaram pointing out that such firms should have 10% of their shares listed on the stock exchanges.

And the finance minister hinted that the government was working towards a lower tax regime through the new tax code.

It was a volatile day of trade. The markets opened in the red following weak Asian cues. There were innumerable attempts at a recovery, only to be followed by fresh weakness.

Buying in telecom, metal, realty, power, auto, oil & gas exploration, select banking and capital goods stocks helped the markets to recover. However, selling in individual stocks like SBI, ITC, Infosys, NTPC, Ambuja Cements and ACC limited the gains to some extent.

Metals, realty and power sectors powered the markets ahead, gaining betwen 2% and 3% each. Reliance Infrastructure rose by 5% at Rs 1,089, Reliance Communications appreciated 5% at Rs 178, Hindalco ended higher by 5% at Rs 125 and Bharti ended up 4% at Rs 319. M&M and Tata Steel ended higher by 3-4%.

Among the losers,  SBI shed 1% at Rs 2,138, ITC closed nearly 1% weaker at Rs 252 and ACC lost nearly 1% at Rs 723

The market breadth was strong. Out of 2,745 stocks traded on the BSE, there were 1,829 advances as against 839 declines.