Markets swallow tax pill

It was the day of bulls. Stock markets gave a thumbs up to the rollback in the turnover tax by the government with a smart rally and took the BSE Sensex beyond the 5000-mark.

The rise is significant as Wall Street and many Asian markets declined on Thursday. Volumes improved significantly on the bourses following the dilution of of turnover tax. Stocks jumped almost across the board, led by banking and steel stocks. Many stocks were buoyant on expectations of strong quarterly results.

The 30-share BSE Sensex ended with a solid gain of 60.53 points, or 1.21 per cent, at 5,054.29, on Thursday, ending above the 5000-mark for the first time since May 27, 2004.

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The current position of the benchmark index is a good 440.45 points, or 9.54 per cent, gain from the recent low of 4,613.94 touched on 24 June.

It had surged 36 points on Wednesday itself, after rising 83 points in near close on that day. The NSE S & P CNX Nifty index gained 16.70 points to end at 1,598.10.