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Sensex shakes off six-month low, rises 196 points

Benchmark index Nifty ends above 8,000

Easy money lifting stocks globally

Press Trust of India Mumbai
Sensex snapped its six-day losing streak by rebounding 196 points on Tuesday on fresh buying in metal, realty, automobile, and energy counters, and short-covering ahead of November-series expiry amid improving global cues.

In the process, the index has shaken off its six-month low hit on Monday.

US stocks closed at fresh record highs overnight, aided by a jump in oil prices and a pullback in the dollar.

Covering-up of pending short positions by participants ahead of Thursday's November expiry in the derivatives segment, too, supported the recovery.
 
"Government’s nod to relax demonetisation norms for farmers so as to save rabi crop brought in some positivity to the battered market, forcing bears to loosen the grip and sparking short-covering," said Anand James, chief market strategist, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.
 
However, caution prevailed amid growing concerns the government's demonetisation move would hit the economy more than expected and the rupee losing strength against the dollar to close at near a six-month low of 68.25.

The Sensex opened higher at 25,928 and hovered in a range of 26,039.7 and 25,765.5 before ending at 25,961, a gain of 195.6 points or 0.76%.
 
The index had dropped 1,752.5 or 6.37% in the previous six sessions to reach six-month low.

The NSE 50-share Nifty also recovered by 73 points or 0.92% to end above the 8,000 level at 8,002.3.
However, foreigners continued their selling spree.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,310.82 crore on Monday, going by provisional data released by stock exchanges.
 
Abroad, Asian markets gained in the wake of solid gains in US stocks, while Japanese yen briefly strengthened after a powerful earthquake that rocked northern Japan appeared to have been taken in stride by investors.

Key indices in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan ended higher by 0.2% to 1.3%.

European markets were also trading higher in their afternoon trade as key indices in France, Germany, and the UK moved up 0.52% to 0.83%. 
 
With Opec's twice-yearly gathering set for November 30, global benchmark Brent crude oil rose 30 cents to trade at one-month high of $49.20 a barrel amid hopes of an upcoming production-cut deal. Opec is Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Back home, broader markets, too, displayed a positive trend, with the BSE mid-cap index rising 1.39%, and small-cap gaining 1.16% as investors widened their portfolios.

A total of 23 stocks in the 30-share Sensex pack ended higher, while the remaining seven closed lower.

Major gainers were Maruti Suzuki (2.97%), Bajaj Auto (2.89%), Hindustan Unilever (2.54%), Hero MotoCorp (2.35%), Adani Ports (2.10%), Wipro (1.87%), HDFC (1.82%), Tata Motors (1.75%), Tata Steel (1.74%), Bharti Airtel (1.52%), Mahindra and Mahindra (1.50%), Axis Bank (1.17%), Lupin (1.09%), and Reliance Industries (1.03%).

However, Larsen and Toubro fell 1.41%, Gail 1.33%, NTPC 0.87%, Power Grid 0.51%, and Dr Reddy's 0.45%.

Among sectoral indices, metals rose 2.74%, followed by realty (2.53%), automobile (1.89%), energy (1.29%), finance (1.10%), and oil and gas (1.10%).

The market breadth turned positive as 1,457 stocks ended higher, 1,099 finished in red while 190 ruled steady.
The total turnover on BSE fell to Rs 2,306.61 crore from Rs 2,548.58 crore yesterday.

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First Published: Nov 22 2016 | 10:19 PM IST

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