Technology scrips pull Sensex up 69 points

Bargain buying in blue-chips lifted the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex above the 4,800 level. The Sensex closed at 4,814.85, up 1.45 per cent (68.84 points) over Monday's close. Steel and technology scrips were in the limelight after being hammered in the last few sessions.

This helped the market break a three-day losing streak. The 30-scrip Sensex basket saw 25 scrips closing higher, with gainers outpacing losers 9:7 in the broad markets on the BSE. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty gained 19.65 points to close at 1,501.

Brokers said that the markets saw a technical bounceback and a renewed buying interest in recently battered sectors like banks, auto and steel.

Among indices, the BSE IT sector index was the biggest gainer, up 1.86 per cent, followed by the capital goods sector index, up 1.40 per cent and the BSE PSU index which was up 1.29 per cent.

Tata Power was the biggest gainer in the Sensex basket, up 7.02 per cent to Rs 237.70, followed by Tata Steel, up 5.48 per cent to Rs 287.85 and Reliance Industries gained 3.69 per cent to Rs 451.

Among non-index steel stocks, the Steel Authority (SAIL) scrip gained 1.51 per cent to Rs 26.90. The largest three losers in the Sensex basket were HPCL (down 2.4 per cent to Rs 336.00), Cipla (down 1.58 per cent to Rs 224.15) and Bharti Tele-ventures (down 1.40 per cent to Rs 137.55).

Turnover in the cash segment was relatively low at Rs 1,501.21 crore on the BSE and Rs 3,610.93 crore on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). According to data posted on the Securities and Exchange Board of India website, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers to the extent of Rs 127.30 crore on Monday, whereas domestic mutual funds were net sellers at Rs 87.20 crore.

Tata Power saw renewed institutional buying interest after reports that it had been granted the country's first power trading licence. Steel major Tata Steel bounced back on reports that Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan's comments on having a steel industry regulator might have been a miscommunication.

Among index heavweights, the State Bank of India scrip was up 1.13 per cent at Rs 444.60, Hindustan Lever was up 0.86 per cent to Rs 128.90 and ITC was up 0.71 per cent to Rs 884.45, as buying activity spread across the board in index stocks.

Value buying at lower levels in PSU bank stocks lifted the Punjab National Bank scrip 5.74 per cent to Rs 256.40, the Canara Bank scrip was up 4.12 per cent to Rs 126.25 and Oriental Bank of Commerce was up 4.37 per cent to Rs 218.60.