Sensex swings to global beat, gains 346 points

An indication that the US Federal Reserve chairman may soon stop hiking short-term interest rates led to a bounce-back in the world equity markets on Thursday, with the Indian market among the top gainers.

The Sensex was up 346 points, or 3.45 per cent, at 10,353, while the Nifty gained 3.1 per cent, ending the day at 3,023.

The markets went on a roller-coaster soon after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke acknowledged that the US economy was starting to slow down, raising hopes that he may soon "pause" on the relentless quarterly rate hikes, which have continued in the US for more than two years.

While the Dow rose 2 per cent, and the Nasdaq index by 1.8 per cent, across the Pacific, the Japanese Nikkei and the South Korean Kospi, home to companies that depend on high US consumer spending for their growth, shot up more than 3 per cent.

Other Asian indices at Hong Kong, Jakarta, and Taiwan rose between 2 and 3 per cent. All European markets, too, opened higher at the start of trade.

On the BSE, metal, bank and FMCG stocks led the rise, with their respective benchmarks rising by 3 to 5 per cent; followed by capital goods, pharma, IT, and auto with more than 2 per cent gains.

GAIL remained the only loser on the 50-stock Nifty, while the winners were led by Oriental Bank, Suzlon, and Ranbaxy, all of which put on more than 7 per cent on their closing values for yesterday.

While there were no losers on the Sensex, a fourth of the BSE 500 stocks lost ground during the day. Reliance Industries climbed 1.4 per cent to Rs 995.70, and Ranbaxy climbed more than 7 per cent to Rs 349.90.