Sensex rises 35 points on inflation data

Indian shares ended higher on Monoday, recovering from early losses, after data showed headline inflation in December slowed to a two-year low, even as a slew of sovereign rating downgrades in Europe dampened risk appetite globally.

The main 30-share Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex ended 0.22 per cent higher at 16,189.36 points, with half of its components in the green. The index fell as much as 0.7 per cent in early trade.

“We had fallen in line with the weak global markets in the morning, but the trend of the Indian markets is positive. People are confident that after the elections in Uttar Pradesh the government will be very active (with reforms),” P Tulsian, an independent analyst in Mumbai, said.

The 50-share National Stock Exchange index ended up 0.16 per cent at 4,873.9 points. In the broader market, losers slightly outpaced gainers in a ratio of 789 to 668 on a total volume of about 628 million shares.

The wholesale price index, the main inflation gauge, rose 7.47 per cent from a year earlier, slowing from a 9.11 per cent rise in November.