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| Sensex follows Asian markets, up 200 points |
| BS Reporter / Mumbai Aug 21, 2009, 00:36 IST |
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Stock market indices rebounded today due to a surge in metal prices. Benchmark indices recouped some of this week’s losses, mirroring gains in Asian markets, mainly China and Japan.
The Shanghai Composite surged 4.52 per cent today due to a rally in metal stocks. The Jakarta Composite added 2.23 per cent while the Nikkei rose 1.76 per cent.
The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index, or Sensex, gained 202.68 points, or 1.37 per cent, to close at 15,012.32.
The CNX Nifty came close to the 4,500 mark by touching a high of 4,493, but pared gains and finally managed to add 59.35 points (1.35 per cent) to close at 4,453.45.
“Markets are witnessing opposing forces of profit-taking and fresh buying. It is trying to seek some direction but has been unable to break out of the consolidation phase,” said Rajesh Jain, CEO, Pranav Securities.
US markets, too, ended in the green yesterday. The Dow Jones added 0.66 per cent while the S&P 500 gained 0.69 per cent.
The market breath was fairly positive. Out of 4,028 stocks traded, 2,300 advanced and 1,602 declined.
All sectoral indices were in the green today. In fact, seven of them outperformed the Sensex. The auto index led the rally and gained 2.60 per cent, followed by Bankex (1.85 per cent), power (1.67 per cent) and consumer durable (1.66 per cent).
Auto stocks soared with Maruti Suzuki rallying 4.88 per cent to Rs 1,365. Mahindra & Mahindra and Hero Honda surged 4.48 per cent and 3.90 per cent, respectively. Both companies have a strong hold on rural demand and so will be hit by any monsoon deficit.
Metal producer Tata Steel benefited from the rally in metal prices in Asia. The stock was up 1.97 per cent. Infosys advanced 2.16 per cent following news that the company has bid for 10 government projects to lower its dependence on the US market.
Debutant Adani Power failed to make a mark on the market and ended flat at Rs 100.05 compared with its issue price of Rs 100. Tata Power gained 2.52 per cent on hope that the company will benefit from the new Australian power policy. Pharma major Sun Pharma added 2.05 per cent after winning a patent challenge of Eli Lilly’s best-seller, Gemzar.
State Bank of India (3.70 per cent), Grasim (3.01 per cent) and HDFC Bank (2.31 per cent) were some of the other gainers.
Foreign institutional investors continued to be on the selling side for the fourth consecutive day and sold shares worth Rs 438.19 crore while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 489.42 crore, according to provisional data from the BSE.
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