The broader NSE Nifty too reclaimed the key 11,500-mark. It touched a high of 11,562.25, before finally settling at 11,536.90, showing a gain of 59.95 points, or 0.52 per cent.
Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com
Markets staged a strong comeback on Thursday after six straight sessions of losses as investors accumulated recently hammered healthcare, energy and power stocks even as the rupee breached the 72-level for the first time.
The BSE Sensex rebounded 224.50 points to end at 38,242.81, while the broader Nifty gained 59.95 points to 11,536.90.
Benchmarks largely benefited from fag-end value buying in beaten-down stocks, lead by RIL and Sun Pharma, amid a rebound in European shares in late-morning trade, traders said.
The session was marked by high volatility and stock-specific action.
The 30-share Sensex stayed choppy on alternate bouts of buying and selling and shuttled between 38,320.96 and 37,912.50.
It finally ended 224.50 points or 0.59 per cent higher at 38,242.81.
The index had lost 878.32 points in the previous six sessions as the rupee plunged to a record low amid a general flight of capital from emerging market assets.
The broader NSE Nifty too reclaimed the key 11,500-mark. It touched a high of 11,562.25, before finally settling at 11,536.90, showing a gain of 59.95 points, or 0.52 per cent.
Intra-day, it touched a low of 11,436.05.
Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) made purchases worth a net of Rs 176.95 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) net sold shares worth Rs 383.67 crore Wednesday, as per provisional data.
“After six consecutive days of fall on account of global trade tensions and weakening currencies, market showed a recovery today helped by rally in index heavyweights.
"However, caution prevails in the market due to weakening rupee which touched a fresh low of 72 today against USD, high crude levels and escalating US-China trade tensions which may cause a slowdown in inflow to emerging markets. Pharma outperformed due to rupee depreciation," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.
RIL emerged as the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, surging 2.80 per cent, followed by PowerGrid at 2.21 per cent.
Other gainers were Coal India 2.05 per cent, Sun Pharma 2 per cent, Adani Ports 1.70 per cent, Tata Motors 1.66 per cent, IndusInd Bank 1.45 per cent, Kotak Bank 1.33 per cent, Tata Steel 1.10 per cent, HDFC Ltd 0.78 per cent, Wipro 0.75 per cent, NTPC 0.54 per cent, Bajaj Auto 0.53 per cent, M&M 0.51 per cent and HDFC Bank 0.48 per cent.
In contrast, Yes Bank dropped 1.42 per cent, Maruti Suzuki 1.33 per cent, Bharti Airtel 0.83 per cent, ICICI Bank 0.45 per cent, Asian Paints 0.28 per cent, Infosys 0.25 per cent and HUL 0.18 per cent.
The BSE healthcare index took the top position among sectoral indices, rising 2.20 per cent, followed by energy 2.12 per cent, power 1.21 per cent, oil and gas 1.15 per cent, utilities 1.01 per cent, infrastructure 0.83 per cent, PSU 0.74 per cent, realty 0.53 per cent, bankex 0.36 per cent, auto 0.27 per cent, capital goods 0.27 per cent, metal 0.21 per cent and IT 0.13 per cent.
However, consumer durables and teck indices ended in the negative zone, falling up to 0.13 per cent.
The broader markets showed a firm trend, with the small-cap and mid-cap indices gaining 0.46 per cent and 0.31 per cent, respectively.
In global markets, Asian shares fell for the sixth straight session as oil prices skidded and gold gained, with investor confidence shaken by the turmoil in emerging markets and possible escalation in the US-China trade war.
Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.47 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei fell 0.41 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng too dropped 0.99 per cent.
Stocks in Europe turned slightly positive in mid-morning trade.
Frankfurt's DAX rose 0.12 per cent, while Paris CAC 40 gained 0.26 per cent in late morning deals.
London's FTSE too was marginally up.
