Sensex ends up 179pts

The Sensex has ended (provisional) at 16,892 - up 179 points. Nifty ended up 55 points at 5,072.
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(Updated at 1436 hrs)

The Sensex rebounded into the green in afternoon trades as IT shares recovered. A firm openeing in European stocks lended a helping hand. The Sensex after touching a low of 16,488 recovered 337 points. The index was up 109 points at 16,822. Nifty was up 35 points at 5,051.

Asian markets however, edged lower. Nikkei ended at multi-year lows a 8,590 - down 2.2%. Shanghai, Seoul and Straits markets also dropped in trades. In Europe, CAC has gained 0.6% while FTSE has jumped 1% in trades. The European Central Bank is expected to keep its key interest rate unchanged at 1.5% at its monthly policy meeting on interest rates on Thursday. The Bank of England's monetary policy is also expected to come in on the same day.

Back in India, the Land Acquisition Bill, which seeks to lay down norms for increased compensation to land owners, was approved by the Union Cabinet on Monday.

BSE IT index has recovered from a low of 4,834 and is now up marginally at 4,936. Earlier in the day, the sector dragged the markets down after Citigroup and Goldman Sachs downgraded stocks in light of the economic situation in Europe and US.

Among individual stocks, Wipro and HCL Tech added 2% each. Patni Computers, TCS and Infosys edged up around 1% each. However, Tech Mahindra was the sole stock which dropped over 2%.


Market heavyweight, Reliance, was the biggest gainer and added 3.5% to Rs 816.

Metal stocks dropped as prices fell in the London Metal Exchange.

In the current financial year through March 2012, the government plans to raise Rs 40000 crore through share sales in state-run firms. Among these are BHEL and ONGC. BHEL advanced 1.5% to Rs 1,741 and ONGC managed to stay above the dotted line through the day and was trading at Rs 260 - up 1%.

The top Sensex gainers in the afternoon trades were Mahindra & Mahindra, up 3% followed by index heavyweight, Reliance industries, Jaiprakash Associates and Maruti Suzuki - up 2% each. Jindal Steel, Tata Motors and BHEL were the other notable gainers.

Amongst the top Sensex losers were realty major, DLF down 4% followed by Sun Pharma, SBI and Bharti Airtel losing 2% each.

The market breadth has turned positive. Of the total 1764 stocks traded on the BSE, 1369 stocks have advanced while 1289 stocks declined.