Banking stocks miss 345-pt Sensex rebound

After a bad beginning for the week, the benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex bounced back 345.65 points (2.67 per cent) as fresh buying interest was seen across all sectors.

Consumer durables, automobiles and information technology were the preferred counters. Bank stocks, however, continued to languish following the hike in cash reserve ratio (CRR).

The S&P CNX Nifty rose 99.10 points (2.45 per cent) to 4,146.20 points. Small cap stocks were in action, as the BSE Small Cap index gained 222.44 points (3.15 per cent) to 7,290.26 points, while the mid cap index was up 152.99 points (2.64 per cent) to 5,953.01 per cent.

The markets will be closed tomorrow on occasion of Mahashivratri.

"Continued good performance by the market has resulted into over expectations from certain sectors. But, if any specific sector failed to deliver the goods, it reflected across the market. Banking stocks have been a good example of this. This volatile movement could continue few days more," said V Subrahmanyam of Quantum Mutual Fund.

Today's gain, after four sessions of downslide, is one of the biggest during the month. The Sensex began the week, ending in red at 14,190 points on 12 February. With today's gain, the index has reached the last week levels, where it moved above 14,400 point level.

"The expiry of futures and options contracts would be crucial next week, as the market reacts sharply to their outcome and traders take short positions. Besides, it would be interesting to see some pre-budget speculation," Giriraj Daga of Khandwala Securities said.

Consumer durables stocks gained the most today as the BSE Consumer Durable index surged 3.88 per cent to 3,939.33 points. All sectoral indices ended in the green as auto, IT, Teck and metal indices registered gains of more than 3 per cent.

Construction major L&T was the top gainer, rising Rs 77.50 (4.80 per cent) to Rs 1,692.10. Satyam followed with gains of 4.58 per cent to Rs 485.45, Cipla to Rs 254.70 (up 4.43 per cent), Hero Honda to Rs 743.60 (up 4.34 per cent) and Gujrat Ambuja to Rs 136.50 (4.08 per cent)

Only six companies on 30-stock Sensex ended in the red as Ranbaxy led with a loss of 5.9 per cent to Rs 395.50. NTPC also lost 1.32 per cent to Rs 142.20, Reliance Energy to Rs 542.15 (down 0.80 per cent) and ACC to Rs 1,017.55 (down 0.39 per cent). Bajaj Auto maintained its loss-making trend as it lost 0.23 per cent to Rs 3,009.20.