Sensex, Nifty rebound after four-day rout; IT, pharma stocks sparkle
Market benchmarks ratcheted higher in a see-saw session on Tuesday after four days of steep declines as investors accumulated recently-battered IT, pharma and finance stocks even as the Ukraine crisis remained an overhang. World equities were mixed as participants tracked Russia's intensifying attack on Ukraine and the cascade of sanctions against Moscow.
The 30-share BSE Sensex opened on a weak note and tumbled 581.93 points or 1.10 per cent to 52,260.82 during the day amid firming oil prices and relentless selling by foreign institutional investors.
Overcoming bouts of volatility, the index gained momentum in the last hour of trade to close 581.34 points or 1.10 per cent higher at 53,424.09. On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty darted up 150.30 points or 0.95 per cent to 16,013.45.
Sun Pharma topped the Sensex gainers' chart with a jump of 3.99 per cent, followed by TCS, NTPC, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Dr Reddy's, UltraTech Cement and Infosys. In contrast, Tata Steel, PowerGrid, Titan, Nestle India, Reliance Industries and SBI closed with losses of up to 1.73 per cent.
In the broader market, the BSE midcap index gained 1.46 per cent and the smallcap gauge jumped 1.33 per cent.
"Domestic indices reversed its trend and traded with gains led by export-oriented sectors like Pharma and IT which witnessed buying interest as the rupee fell to its record lows. Favourable exit poll results of state election and low-level buying seen in mid and small caps also helped in adding optimism in the domestic market. Major western markets were also trading in the green while other Asian peers continued to trade in negative territory on fear of the impact of global inflationary pressure...," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Bourses in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo settled lower. Stock exchanges in Europe were trading mostly higher in the afternoon trade.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 2.87 per cent to USD 126.6 a barrel.
"After purchasing resurfaced at low levels, benchmark indices returned to green. Early trades on European marketplaces show a slight upward trend," said Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, HEM Securities.
Among BSE sectoral indices, realty, IT, Teck and healthcare were the biggest gainers, climbing as much as 3.19 per cent.
The rupee slipped 6 paise to close at 76.99 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday amid a weak greenback overseas.
Foreign institutional investors continued their selling spree in Indian markets as they offloaded shares worth Rs 7,482.08 crore on a net basis on Monday, according to exchange data.
