| Sensex gains 136 points to cross 17,000-level |
MUMBAI After a weak Indian rupee wrecked havoc in early trade, the BSE Sensex on Thursday staged a smart comeback by jumping 136 points and closed above 17,000-level for the first time in seven weeks as falling oil prices and upgrade of Indian market by JP Morgan boosted sentiment.
The BSE benchmark index, which lost over 81 points at the outset, bounced back in late trade by 135.93 points, or 0.80 per cent, to close at 17,032.56, a level last seen on May 3.
Likewise, the 50-share NSE index Nifty fell to 5,093.45 before recovering to close higher by 44.45 points, or 0.87 per cent to 5,165.
ITC, ICICI Bank, L&T and SBI stocks jumped by 2-3 per cent to lead the smart rally.
Dealers said the index entered the positive zone ignoring the rupee hitting a record low of 56.57 in the last one hour on robust buying in realty, banks and capital goods. The market breadth was positive as 1,658 stocks closed with gains while 1,079 ended with losses.
Brokers said market recovered sharply after oil (Brent) prices dropped to an 18-month low of $91 per barrel in global markets while JP Morgan’s upgrade supported the mood.
“Our proposition is that an upgrade cycle starts late 2012. This will be driven by lower oil prices as the rupee price of Brent (oil) is 18 per cent below its 2012 peak,” said JP Morgan’s emerging market equity strategist Adrian Mowat.
The upsurge was further supported as speculators rushed to cover pending positions amid a surprise rise in stocks as investors bought blue chips, said traders.
The rising trend was capped following a steep 2.6 per cent fall in index heavyweight Reliance Industries after its Canada-based partner Niko Resources said KG-D6 gas block holds 80 per cent less reserves than earlier estimated.
Investors seemed to have ignored the rupee hitting a record low of 56.57 and was last trading at 56.4 levels against the dollar while global markets traded lower after Federal Reserve lowered growth outlook for the US economy.
In the Indian market, small-cap and mid-cap shares also moved up on good buying support from retail investors as those indices firmed in the 0.7-0.8 per cent range.
Out of the 30-share Sensex pack, 25 scrips finished with gains while five ended with losses.
Major gainers from the Sensex were BHEL (3.60 per cent), SBI (2.89 per cent), L&T (2.30 per cent), Sterlite (2.16 per cent), ICICI Bank (2.07 per cent), ITC (2.07 per cent), Hero MotoCorp (2.01 per cent), Tata Power (1.95 per cent), Sun Pharma (1.70 per cent), HDFC Bank (1.40 per cent), HUL (1.21 per cent), NTPER CENT (1.02 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (1.12 per cent), Coal India (1.08 per cent) and Tata Motors (1.02 per cent).
However, Reliance Industries fell by 2.58 per cent and TCS dropped by 2.18 per cent. Among the sectoral indices, the BSE-Realty rose by 2.89 per cent, followed by the BSE-Capital Goods (2.18 per cent), the BSE-Bankex (2.06 per cent), the BSE-Power (1.74 per cent), the BSE-PSU (1.33 per cent) and the BSE-FMCG (1.30 per cent).
Press Trust of India
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