Sensex surges 473 points to recover from a 20-month low

Key Indian equity market indices closed decisively higher on Friday, in cue with other Asian peers, after they fell to their lowest levels since May last year on the day before on poor buying interest and weakening rupee.

Equities staged a sharp pullback rally on Friday to recover from a 20-month low as the benchmark BSE Sensex surged over 473 points to 24,435.66, tracking gains in global markets on hopes of a fresh stimulus from the euro zone and rebound in oil prices.

Key Indian equity market indices closed decisively higher on Friday, in cue with other Asian peers, after they fell to their lowest levels since May last year on the day before on poor buying interest and weakening rupee (AP)

Sentiment got a boost from the rupee, which rebounded from 29-month lows. It strengthened by 36 paise to 67.66 against the dollar (intra-day) at the forex market.

However, on a weekly basis, the BSE Sensex fell marginally by 19.38 points or 0.07% while the broader NSE Nifty shed 15.35 points or 0.20%, third in a row.

Global cues were largely positive after a hint of more monetary stimulus by the European Central Bank (ECB) to help struggling eurozone economy and crude prices rebounding from over 12-year lows to trade above $30 a barrel.

In the international market, Brent crude rose $1.52, or 5.2%, to $30.77 a barrel.

The 30-share Sensex started off strong by opening above the 24,000-mark at 24,122.06 and continued its march to touch day’s high of 24,472.88 before ending 473.45 points or 1.98%, its biggest single-day gains since October 5, at 24,435.66.

The 50-issue NSE Nifty, after reclaiming 7,400, advanced to hit a high of 7,433.40 points, finally settling 145.65 points or 2% higher at 7,422.45.

GAIL was the biggest BSE gainer with a rise of 7.99%, followed by Maruti Suzuki at 5.53%.

Other major gainers were Tata Steel, Hero MotoCorp, M&M, SBI, Coal India, Dr Reddy’s, ONGC, NTPC, Axis Bank, L&T, Asian Paints, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, BHEL, Bajaj Auto, Sun Pharma and RIL.

Overall, 26 counters from the 30-scrip index gained, while laggards included Bharti Airtel, HUL, Wipro and Infosys.

The broader markets too perked up with the small-cap index rising 2.25% and mid-cap gaining 1.90%.

Sectorally, metal index gained the most at 4.32%, followed by auto 3.65%, PSU 3.48%, infra 3.00%, oil&gas 2.95, banking 2.81%, capital goods 2.66% and healthcare 2.45%.

Globally, Japan’s Nikkei rallied 5.88%, Shanghai Composite index ended 1.25% higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index surged 2.90%. European shares too were in the green in their early trade.