Markets surge on short covering

Nifty regains 5K; Global peers contribute to the gain.

The Nifty regained the 5,000-mark at close on the back of heavy short covering, in the second half of the trading day, owing the derivatives expiry. The index today gained 86 points at 5,003.

The markets opened on a flat note at 16,410 mirroring subdued global cues. Recovery in the Asian stocks helped the Sensex cut its initial losses and rebound into green.

The markets extended gains owing to strength in realty, metal and FMCG stocks. The rally was also supported by the positive opening of the European markets. Major indices like FTSE, DAX and CAC 40 were up around 2% each.

The Sensex ended near its day's high of 16,694 and finally settled with gains of 278 points at 16,666.

The market breadth was positive, out of 2,881 shares traded, 1,658 advanced and 1,108 declined on the BSE.

The midcap and the smallcap indices advanced 1% each to 6,646 and 8,377, respectively.

All the sectoral indices ended in the green, bankex, auto and the oil&gas indices were up over 2% each.

Axis Bank and Indusind Bank gained 5% each at Rs 1,216 and Rs 186, respectively on the bankex.

TV Eighteen and MVL advanced 9% each to Rs 78 and Rs 61, respectively on the midcap index.

S Kumar Nation and Sujana Metal zoomed 10% to Rs 74 and Rs 20, respectively on the smallcap index.

INDEX GAINERS...

Tata Motors and ONGC gained 4.5% each at Rs 742 and Rs 1,125, respectively. Sterlite Industries, HDFC Bank, Reliance Communications, Maruti and DLF advanced 2-4% each on the BSE.

The other major gainers were ITC, HDFC,SBI, BHEL and Mahindra & Mahindra, up over 1.5% each.

...AND THE LOSERS

ACC and Bharti Airtel slipped 1.5% each on the BSE to Rs 817 and Rs 260, respectively.

VALUE & VOLUME TOPPERS

Adani Enterprises topped the value chart on the BSE with a turnover of 298.19 crore. It was followed by Tata Steel (Rs 206.06 crore), Sesa Goa (Rs 161.21 crore), SBI (Rs 111.49 crore) and Tata Motors (Rs 107.53 crore).

Birla Power led the volume chart on the BSE with trades of 16.44 million shares. It was followed by RNRL (9.03 million), Adani Enterprises (5.55 million), Unitech (4.98 million) and Sesa Goa (4.90 million).