Ignoring the high food inflation number and ongoing unrest in Egypt, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Thursday surged 358 points, biggest gains since December last year, as traders bought stocks that were battered over the past few days.
The 30-scrip sensitive index, Sensex, which opened at 18,113.73 points, closed at 18,449.31 points, up 1.98 % from its previous close of 18,090.62 points, even as the food inflation soared to over 17% for the week ended January 22.
The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty shot up by 94.75 points to 5,526.75 led by Hindalco, Reliance Industries, Larsen and Toubro and SBI.
“The bounce back was expected as market had entered in oversold territory,” says Alex Mathew, head research at Geojit BNP Paribas Financials. “Market is expected to remain volatile in next few days.”
Market watchers said speculators also bought shares to cover up “short positions” they had taken in anticipation of a fall in the market.