Volatile Sensex vaults 470 pts

After the recent spate of big falls, it was the day of big gains for Dalal Street.

After the recent spate of big falls, it was the day of big gains for Dalal Street. The volatile market made a strong comeback today, with the Bombay Stock Exchange BSE benchmark 30-share Sensitive Index Sensex surging 470 points to breach the psychologically important 13,000 level.

The rebound on the domestic bourses, which had seen a huge value erosion over the past few days, was triggered by strong Asian markets and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh8217;s positive comments about the economy.

The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex vaulted 3.7 per cent to 13,049.35, the biggest single-day point rise since mid-June 2006. The gain was on account of robust activity in the stocks of RIL and IPCL on their merger plans as well as PSU stocks.

The S038;P CNX Nifty jumped 134.80 points 3.7 per cent to settle at 3,761.65. 8220;Investors who were dumping shares till yesterday suddenly changed their stance. Blue chips kept on rising almost across the board as the session progressed. A host of small and mid-cap shares, too, were in demand. But the volatility is scary,8221; said BSE dealer R A Poddar.

Investors8217; wealth 8212; market capitalisation 8212; shot up by Rs 1,10,000 crore to Rs 33.65 lakh crore amidst the buying euphoria.

Cement, banking shares, power equipment makers, construction, telecom and pharma pivotals led the charge. The trigger for the recovery came from the Asian markets, which bounced back from the recent steep fall triggered by heavy losses in Chinese stocks and jitters about the health of the US economy. The key benchmark indices in the region were up 1-2 per cent on Thursday.

Further, Prime Minister8217;s statement in Parliament that the economy was poised to grow at 9 per cent and his view on public sector listing also cheered the sentiment, dealers said. The domestic bourses had recovered on Tuesday, when Asian markets first recovered from the steep fall. However, they had declined again on Wednesday in volatile trade. Market circles say

that huge swings have

become a daily phenomenon in the market of late.

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In today8217;s trade, the BSE Small-Cap Index gained 157.50 points 2.5 per cent to reach 6,245.81 while the BSE Mid-Cap Index gained 132.38 points 2.5 per cent to reach 5,246.79.

All sectoral indices on the BSE have gained. The biggest gainer in percentage terms was the BSE Metal Index which jumped 356.52 points 4.58 per cent to 8,132.68.

The BSE Capital Goods Index gained 376.84 points 4.51 per cent to 8,730.82. The Bankex rose 275.69 points 4.45 per cent to 6,466.36.