Equities pull back on buying frenzy; Nifty jumps 87 pts

Stocks staged a strong comeback as storm of buying in frontline heavyweights as well as firm global sentiment helped the market to catapult after four days of downtrend with the benchmark CNX Nifty surging by a hefty 87 points on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) today.
Financials, oil & energy, FMCG, auto, metal and infra- related stocks mainly spearheaded the rally with huge volumes.
Barring healthcare, all sectoral indices ended in positive zone.
Bourses had been under immense selling pressure in the past four trading sessions spooked by ongoing turmoil in Iraq amid fears of supply disruptions as India imports more oil products to meet its own domestic consumption which may impact the growth recovery.

A modest decline in oil prices as well as hectic short- covering ahead of Thursday's options expiry aided the recovery process.
After a better start, gains were maintained throughout the session as investors, bullishly optimistic about the country's long-term prospects and highly hopeful that the upcoming Union Budget will announce strong measures to boost infrastructure spending, went on a buying spree.

The 50-share Nifty jumped by a staggering 86.85 points, or 1.16 per cent to conclude at 7,580.20 after hitting a intra-day high of 7,593.35.
Other Asian markets also ended largely higher following a series of positive US macro data, though gains were capped as traders continued to monitor developments in Iraq.

Among prominent index stock gainers, Gail rallied by 4.75 per cent, BPCL by 4.70 per cent, DLF 4.70 per cent, Bank of Baroda 3.22 per cent, NMDC 3.20 per cent, Bhel 2.93 per cent, Axis Bank 2.39 per cent, HDFC 2,39 per cent, SBIN 2.30 per cent and Reliance shot up by 2.23 per cent.
Meanwhile, FMCG major ITC regained smartly after losing over 6 per cent yesterday on the back of good low level buying support. Sugar stocks continued to rally buoyed by government measures as well as import duty hike.
Kotak Bank, Sun Phar, Infosys, Ultracemco, TechM, Cairn, Lupin, Bharti Airtel, HCL-Tech and Wipro were on the downside.

Turnover in the cash segment jumped to Rs 17,564.33 crore from Rs 15,006.33 crore yesterday. A total of 11,111.26 lakh shares changed hands in 79,47,705 trades, while the market capitalisation stood at Rs 87,48,452 crore.