Logging its biggest gain in over two months, the benchmark BSE Sensex today surged by 517 points to end at 27,975.86 on strong buying support, particularly in banking, telecom and IT stocks, amid positive global cues like a fall in crude prices. The benchmark index resumed opened 200 points up and gradually moved upwards to regain 28,000-mark before closing at 27,975.86, a rise of 517.22 points or 1.88 per cent, with almost all the 30 index shares ending with gains. The previous best one-day gain was on January 20 when the Sensex had rallied by 522.66 points. The rally was across-the-board with 12 sectoral indices settling in the positive range of 0.47 per cent and 2.82 per cent. Brokers attributed the the steep rise to value buying from an "over-sold" position. "Firm global cues combined with oversold positions in index majors triggered the rebound initially, which further accelerated following noticeable buying interest," said Jayant Manglik, President, Retail Distribution, Religare Securities. Bharti Airtel was the top gainer with a rise of 3.55 per cent, followed by HDFC 3.52 per cent, ONGC 3.49 per cent, ITC 3.41 per cent and Coal India 3.27 per cent. "All the sectors ended in green and the major gainers for the day were Capital goods and Realty which closed up around 2.91 per cent and 2.30 per cent, respectively," said Head Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services. Similarly, the 50-issue NSE Nifty also sprung back by 150.90 points or 1.81 pct to end at 8,492.30. It logged an intra-day high of 8,504.55. As the financial year is coming to an end, markets opened for the day on a bullish note and remained strong throughout the day's trading session. Among day's major market moving events, surge in US technology shares overnight helped equities bounce back, said Rakesh Goyal, Senior Vice President, Bonanza Portfolio. Small-cap and mid-cap counters too attracted heavy buying interest from retail investors as their indices outperformed the Sensex. Reduction in crude prices and improvement in F&O liquidity, post a poor March expiry (-7% return) provided essential, said Vinod Nair, Head-Fundamental Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services. Brent crude for May eased 41 cents to USD 56.00 in Asia in the afternoon trade. Meanwhile, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 320.52 crore while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 674.76 crore last Friday, as per provisional data. Market breadth turned positive as 2,042 counters closed in the green while 753 finished in the red and 88 held stable. Total equity turnover dropped to Rs 2,552.45 crs from Rs 3,467.44 crs on last Friday. Asian stocks too closed higher on hints of more monetary easing from China. The European markets also rebounded on comment from the Chinese central bank that government can do more to support the economic growth. European stocks too were trading higher in their late morning deals after China's policy makers signalled last weekend that the country has room to ease monetary policy to boost sluggish growth. The CAC was up by 0.2 pct, the DAX by 1.39 pct and the FTSE by 0.51 pct.
