Sensex marches ahead after see-saw trading

The stock market made a smart rebound of over 400 points, or 2.7 per cent, from the day's low as investors' sentiment swung wildly, ahead of the derivatives expiry tomorrow.

On weak cues from the Asian markets where prices went down by nearly 2 to 2.5 per cent, Indian markets lost about 1-1.5 per cent in initial trading, before losing further. But smart buying by foreign funds and domestic institutions, and short covering, pulled the market to positive territory at close.

Stocks in Europe, which opened higher on prospects that US equity markets would bounce back on Wednesday, after two days of fall, also lifted market sentiment.

The Dow Jones Index of the US, which opens after the close of the Indian markets, was, as anticipated, higher by over 50 points at the time of going to press, indicating further buying in domestic stocks tomorrow. 
 

Top 5 Sensex gainers
	Aug 29, 07	% chg*
Tata Steel	659.85	8.99
ONGC	833.90	3.05
BHEL	1851.40	2.45
Hindalco	156.55	2.12
REL	782.15	2.04
Top 5 Sensex losers
	Aug 29, 07	% chg*
Infosys	1834.00	-2.55
NTPC	165.15	-1.29
HDFC	1959.15	-1.08
Satyam Comp	445.30	-0.98
ICICI Bank	857.00	-0.61
* Over previous close

The benchmark Sensex ended at 14,993.04, up 73.85 points or 0.50 per cent "� a remarkable turnaround considering that the index went to as low as 14,592.11, amid a similar trend across other Asian markets. The broader S&P CNX Nifty ended at 4,359.30, up 0.89 percent, or 38.6 points.

In the kind of see-saw trading that has become common among investors over the past month, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares entered the positive territory after spending most of the morning session with losses.

The Sensex is at a two-week high now and even crossed the psychologically key 15,000-mark, before closing a shade below it.

The index, which has gained 6 per cent in the last four trading sessions and is up over 7 per cent since touching a three-month closing low on August 21, is 5.5 per cent below a record high of 15,868.85 set on July 24.

"There was big buying at lower levels. There is a genuine feeling that our markets are immune to the subprime turmoil. Further, there was short covering before the F&O expiry tomorrow," said Pankaj Namdharani of SPA Securities.

Tata Steel rose 9 per cent to Rs 659.85, its strongest close in more than a month, after the company said its consolidated quarterly earnings rose more than six times following its acquisition of Corus.

Infosys Technologies led software stocks lower after US consumer confidence dropped and home values declined, fuelling concern growth will slow in their largest market. Infosys Technologies fell 2.6 percent to Rs 1,834. The BSE IT Index was down 1.19 per cent or 54.36 points to 4558.76.

The metal index was the major contributor to the Sensex rebound on Wednesday. It ended up by 4.24 per cent or 455.50 points to close at 11,203.77 led by steel shares.

There was a buzz in the market that steel producers are revising products prices upwards from September. Ispat Industries closed 17.45 per cent higher to Rs.18.31, Tata Steel closed 8.99 per cent high to Rs.659.83 and SAIL closed 5.15 per cent higher to Rs.161.20.