With blue chips’ buying spree as well as taking cues from global counterparts, domestic equities saw a recovery of 20-month lows on Tuesday as the benchmark index BSE Sensex surged by 291.47 points - the biggest single-day gain of 2016 which ended at 24,479.84. Sensing some stability in global markets, bargain-hunting investors also lapped up recently beaten-down stocks.
The Tuesday’s gain was also index’s remarkable single-day gain since December 17 last year as the 50-share NSE Nifty recaptured the crucial 7,400-mark by bouncing 84.10 points or 1.14 per cent to 7,435.10. As far as stocks are concerned, Anil Ambani-led Reliance Power played an important role, surging around 3.80 per cent after reporting a 38 per cent rise in consolidated profit to Rs351.81 crore for December quarter.
Even all the sectors ended in green with the shares of capital goods, infra, banking and realty helping the index snap a three-day losing streak. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries perked up by 2.51 per cent to Rs1,043.60 before its quarterly earnings report. “Indian markets, especially at open, got a breather, after Chinese GDP numbers came in more or less as expected. Rise in oil also helped sentiment, which was further boosted by rise in European markets,” Anand James, Co Head Technical Research Desk of Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.
The Sensex resumed higher at 24,257.28 and hovered in a range of 24,563.34 to 24,247.23 before ending at 24,479.84, showing a gain of 291.47 points or 1.21 per cent. The index had lost almost 666 points in the previous three days following a massive dip in exports and weak global cues after crude slipped below $28 a barrel.
Meanwhile, China’s economy grew 6.8 per cent in the fourth quarter, data released today showed, easing from 6.9 per cent in the third quarter. This was the weakest pace of expansion since the first quarter of 2009. But, hopes of fresh stimulus by the policymakers in China gave a boost to the global shares. The Shanghai Composite index ended with a gain of 3.22 per cent. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index rose 2.07 per cent, while indexes in Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan rose by 0.56 per cent to 1.75 per cent.
From Europe, shares listed in France, Germany and the UK rose between 1.53 per cent and 2.00 per cent. Back home, out of the 30-share Sensex, 22 scrips ended higher. Major gainers were Adani Ports (5.90 pc), Axis Bank (5.23 pc), Tata Motors (3.71 pc), l&T (3.68 pc), Bharti Airtel (3.26 pc), ICICI Bank (2.74 pc), Reliance Industries (2.51 pc), Hero MotoCorp (2.13 pc), HDFC (1.65 pc), ONGC (1.44 pc) and BHEl (1.30 pc). However, M&M fell by 1.19 per cent followed by Wipro 1.02 per cent, Coal India (0.92 pc), Asian Paints (0.63 pc), Maruti (0.61 pc) and ITC (0.44 pc).