Sensex rises 291 points

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensitive Index, or Sensex, which had declined 524.01 points, or 3.29 per cent, in the past four trading sessions, recouped nearly half its losses today.

The index today advanced 290.79 points, or 1.89 per cent, to 15,689.12. However, on a weekly basis, it declined 1.46 per cent over the previous week’s close. Foreign instituitional investors were net sellers of Rs 2,067.71 crore this week.

The Sensex started the week on a negative note by taking cues from the Asian markets. India’s first-quarter gross domestic product growth of 6.1 per cent also failed to enthuse investors.

However, there was some cheer as a rise in vehicle sales in August caused the BSE Auto index to jump 4.54 per cent this week. Barring auto and realty, other sectoral indices ended the week in a negative zone. “After four days, the markets recovered, taking its cues from the European markets. There was some value-buying and short-covering. Till now, 15,300 was a good support, but it can now go up to 15,900,” said Anita Gandhi, head, institutional equity, Arihant Capital. The Nifty declined 1.10 per cent compared to its previous week’s close.