Sensex joins global party, zooms 893 pts

It was a late Diwali for the Indian stock markets as they joined the rally across the globe on Wednesday on big buying by domestic institutions led by insurance companies.

Panic short-covering by traders towards the end of the trading session also propelled the Sensex to its biggest single-day gain.

The previous single-day gain (in terms of points) was on October 23 when the Sensex gained 878.85 points.

The falling value of the Japanese yen against the US dollar and the euro increased the risk appetite of foreign investors towards the emerging markets including India.

The 30-share Sensex shot up by 892.58 points, or 4.69 per cent, to 19,929.06, just 48 points away from the all-time high of 19,977.67 recorded on October 29.

The broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty Index surged by 242.5 points, or 4.26 per cent, to 5,937.90. 
 

TOP 10 CONTRIBUTORS
	14-Nov-07#	% change*	Points**
Reliance Ind	2887.50	7.11	208.83
ICICI Bank	1277.90	8.65	166.97
HDFC Bank	1749.10	10.81	72.33
HDFC	2755.85	6.51	61.91
Infosys Tech	1706.35	4.85	57.41
Larsen & Toubro	4492.25	2.82	47.66
ONGC	1235.25	4.39	33.31
Bharti Airtel	859.65	3.19	26.43
BHEL	2873.85	3.49	24.91
ITC	183.20	2.75	19.35
# Price in Rs   * Over previous close  **Points contributed to sensex
THE MOMENTUM MARKETS IN ASIA
	14-Nov-07#	Net Chg*	% Chg*
Shanghai Composite	5412.69	254.58	4.94
Hang Seng	29166.01	1362.66	4.90
# Price in Rs     * Over previous close

Investors shrugged off concerns of stretched valuations, a possible US slowdown and drying up of global liquidity due to the recent regulatory curbs.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers for Rs 163 crore in the cash markets and domestic institutions were buyers for Rs 567 crore.

"There was a huge rally in financials and the global risk appetite is spilling over to emerging markets," said Alok Sama, founder and president of Baer Capital Partners, which is looking to mobilise over $1 billion for the Indian markets over the next one year or so.

The BSE Bankex, which tracks State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank, among others, was the top gainer among sector-specific indices.

The Bankex, which surged by 6.53 per cent, was followed by the BSE Oil & Gas Index (up 6.40 per cent).

The market breadth was also overwhelmingly positive with 2,074 stocks advancing and 567 stocks declining.

Other Asian markets also rose for the first time in five days as the Japanese currency slipped to 111.08 per dollar, from 110.90, the most since August 29.

The yen touched 109.13 per dollar on November 12, the strongest since May 2006.

HDFC Bank zoomed 10.81 per cent to Rs 1,749.10 to emerge as the top gainer among the Sensex stocks. State Bank rose Rs 50.45, or 2.2 per cent, to 2,346.15, a record.

IT stocks also rose after their rise on the American stock exchanges on Tuesday. Wipro rose 6.84 per cent to Rs 471.20.

Jignesh Desai, head of institutional sales, SBI Caps, said the steep rise in late hours of trading was due to panic short covering by traders. "The fact that FIIs were not selling and there was some buying also added to the sentiment. Retail investors were also seen in the market," he said.