Stocks today rose for the first time in three sessions with benchmark Sensex closing with 35-point gain at 28,067.56 and Nifty reclaiming 8,400-mark powered by a late spurt in bluechips, led by Infosys, TCS, Cipla and SBI, amid the rupee breaching 62-mark against US dollar.
After surging to 28,118.53 points at the outset on emergence of buying, the Sensex fell back to the day's low of 27,915.23 on some profit-taking. A late round of buying helped the BSE index reclaim the 28,000-mark and it settled 34.71 points, or 0.12 per cent, higher at 28,067.56.
The gauge had lost 145 points in previous two sessions.
The 50-share Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also recaptured the crucial 8,400-mark by rising 19.60 points, or 0.23 per cent, to close at 8,401.90. It shuttled between 8,353.15 and 8,410.85 intra-day.
It had shed 48.45 points in the previous two sessions.
Gains in Sensex and Nifty were powered by Cipla that climbed 3.23 per cent after the drug maker announced a pact with Serum Institute of India for distribution of paediatric vaccines in Europe.
Infosys and TCS gained 1 per cent each after the rupee weakened to nearly nine-month low of Rs 62.25 (intra-day) against the dollar at forex market. IT firms revenues are denominated in US dollar and a weak rupee boosts margins.
In the 30-Sensex pack, 16 constituents ended higher while 14 finished in the negative zone.
Other bluechip gainers included SBI, Wipro, Tata Power, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Hindalco, ITC, ONGC, RIL, HUL and CIL.
Sensex laggards included Sesa Sterlite, NTPC, BHEL, M&M, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel, GAIL and L&T.
"Similar to last 3-4 trading sessions, markets opened almost flat over previous closing levels and remained sideways in a very narrow range throughout the trading session," said Hiren Dhakan, Associate Fund Manager, Bonanza Portfolio Ltd.
Meanwhile, Foreign Portfolio Investors bought shares worth a net Rs 71.80 crore yesterday, according to bourses.
Sectorwise, the BSE IT Index gained the most by surging 1.27 per cent, followed by Healthcare 0.98 per cent, FMCG index 0.39 per cent and Banking index 0.37 per cent. On the other hand, the BSE Consumer Durables barometer fell 1.72 per cent, followed by BSE Realty 1.52 per cent and Metal index 0.84 per cent.
