The BSE Sensex zoomed 318 points to end at 33,351.57, while the broader Nifty spurted 88 points to 10,242.65.
Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com
Markets staged a smart comeback today after six straight sessions of losses as investors piled into recently hammered stocks amid positive global cues.
The BSE Sensex zoomed 318 points to end at 33,351.57, while the broader Nifty spurted 88 points to 10,242.65.
Benchmarks benefited from value buying in beaten-down stocks and a firm trend in overseas markets as fears of a global trade war eased after the White House signalled it would water down plans for contentious metal tariffs, brokers said.
Stocks of state-run lenders staged a rebound in late afternoon trade on short-covering, they added.
The 30-share Sensex stayed in the positive zone throughout the session on unabated buying by domestic institutional as well as retail investors and hit a high of 33,439.97. It finally settled at 33,351.57, showing a robust gain of 318.48 points, or 0.96 per cent.
This is its biggest single-day gain since February 23, when it had jumped 322.65 points.
The index had lost 1,412.66 points in the previous six sessions on negative domestic as well as global cues.
The broader NSE Nifty reclaimed the key 10,200-mark and touched a high of 10,270.35, before finally settling at 10,242.65, showing a sizeable gain of 88.45 points, or 0.87 per cent. Intra-day, it hit a low of 10,146.40.
"Market reversed from the last six days losing streak as ease in trade war concerns and short covering in PSU banks supported the rally.
"Mid and small caps continued to underperform, as investors are still jittery waiting for further ease in valuation," said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services.
Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) had net bought shares worth Rs 409.34 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 719.78 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.
Steel and aluminium stocks climbed, with Nalco and Hindustan Zinc gaining 1.83 per cent and 1.15 per cent.
Other metal stocks gained up to 0.84 per cent, led by Jindal Steel, NMDC, SAIL and JSW Steel.
Shares of Bhushan Steel rose 16.26 per cent as Tata Steel emerged as the highest bidder to acquire the debt-laden firm. Tata Steel ended lower by 1.98 per cent.
SBI was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting 4.09 per cent.
Other gainers were ICICI Bank, Adani Ports, M&M, RIL, HDFC Ltd, Asian Paints, L&T, NTPC, Infosys, Maruti Suzuki, Power Grid, Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto, gaining up to 2.13 per cent.
Losses in Sun Pharma, Yes Bank, TCS, Tata Motors, Kotak Bank and ONGC limited the upside.
Shares of telecom stocks MTNL, Bharti Airtel and Idea fell up to 1.19 per cent, despite the Cabinet yesterday clearing a relief package for the debt-ridden sector, giving more time to operators to pay for the spectrum bought in auctions.
It also relaxed the spectrum holding limit for the telecom operators.
The BSE realty index took the pole position among sectoral indices, rising 1.63 per cent, followed by bankex (1.43 per cent), capital goods (1.12 per cent), auto (0.92 per cent), power (0.88 per cent), consumer durables (0.78 per cent), PSU (0.60 per cent), oil & gas (0.45 per cent), infrastructure (0.28 per cent), IT (0.26 per cent) and teck (0.18 per cent).
Metal, healthcare and FMCG ended in the negative zone.
Gitanjali Gems slumped 5 per cent to hit its fresh 52-week low of Rs 16.60 on the BSE.
This is the 16th straight session of fall for the stock. It has lost as much as 73.58 per cent since February 14, the day the PNB fraud came to light.
In the broader markets, the mid-cap index moved up 0.56 per cent while the small-cap index gained 0.50 per cent.
Globally, there was a firm trend in Asia coupled with a higher opening in European markets as investors awaited a regular policy meeting of the European Central Bank.
In the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei ended 0.54 per cent higher, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.52 per cent, while Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.51 per cent.
In Europe, Frankfurt's DAX inched up 0.01 per cent, while Paris CAC 40 rose 0.28 per cent in their early deals. London's FTSE too was up 0.04 per cent.
