Global cues drive up Sensex by 333 pts

This is the steepest gain since December 23 last for the market barometer.

The domestic markets were on a roll following a global rally,helping the benchmark index Sensex recover Tuesday’s sharp losses by surging 333 points.

The Sensex,which crashed 192 points on Tuesday on profit-booking bounced back to close with gain of 332.61 points to 16,496.05,driven primarily by the metal and realty counters. Also,all the 30 Sensex counters,barring Sun Pharma ended in the green.

This is the steepest gain since December 23 last for the market barometer. The index had a 166 points gap-up opening,tracking strong Asian cues,which rallied following the overnight gains on the Wall Street and European indices. The Wall Street gained handsomely on Tuesday following reports that the pending home sales in the US rose 1 per cent in December after a 16 per cent drop in November.

The National Stock Exchange index Nifty surged 101.75 points to close well above the psychological 4,900 mark at 4,931.85,after touching the day’s high of 4,949.15. The Nifty opened 52 points higher on Wednesday.

Wednesday’s gain was primarily led by funds showing strong demand in metal and realty stocks. The metal index gained the most by 4.01 per cent to 16,602.13 driven by Sterlite after UBS upgraded it and commodity prices climbed globally. The stock rose by Rs 43.95 to Rs 780.30.

Hindalco climbed Rs 4.95 to Rs 156.10. Aluminum gained 1.4 per cent on the London Metal Exchange on Tuesday. Tata Steel also lent support to the rally by rising Rs 28.10 to Rs 600.40.

The realty index was second best performer by adding 2.81 per cent to 3,536.22 followed by the consumer durables index by 2.63 per cent to 4,076.22.

Story continues below this ad

The capital goods index rose by 2.12 per cent to 13,253.71 after Larsen & Toubro,the largest engineering company,added Rs 53.05 to Rs 1,449.85,the most since August 24,after it won new orders worth Rs 11,000 crore.

The banking index rose by 2.07 per cent to 9,656.64,the FMCG index by 2.01 per cent to 2,748.98 and auto index by 1.77 per cent to 7,091.48.

The IT index gained 1.72 per cent to 5,023.33 as the second-heaviest on the Sensex Infosys rose by Rs 32.55 to Rs 2,470.20,TCS by Rs 15.45 to Rs 753.55 and Wipro by Rs 17.35 to Rs 671.80.

Teck,PSU,oil and gas,power and healthcare indices were also higher on broad-based buying.