Sensex gains over 400 points as rupee rebounds

A benchmark index of Indian equities markets gained 405 points or 2.25 percent Thursday as the rupee rebounded after hitting a record low Wednesday.

After falling to 68.75 against a dollar, the rupee rebounded after the Reserve Bank of India moved to provide dollars directly to oil companies. The rupee was trading at 67.10 against a dollar.

All the sectors were trading in green. The rally was led by oil and gas, metal, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), capital goods, auto, banking index (bankex) and healthcare sectors.

The 30-scrip S&P Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 18,073.66 points, closed at 18,401.04 points, up 404.89 points or 2.25 percent from its previous day close at 17,996.15 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 18,455.66 points and a low of 18,071.22 points intra-day.

The S&P BSE oil and gas index surged 225.11 points, metal index moved up by 184.52 points, FMCG index increased by 140.09 points, capital goods index gained 152.68 points, auto index moved upwards by 209.99 points, bankex climbed up by 163.62 points and healthcare index inched up by 140.94 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed trade at 124.05 points or 2.35 percent up at 5,409.05 points.

The major Sensex gainers were: Sesa Goa, up 13.54 percent at Rs.192.50; HDFC, up 6.30 percent at Rs.695.30; Hindalco Industries, up 4.65 percent at Rs.106.90; Reliance Industries Limited, up 4.22 percent at Rs.845.35; Bharti Airtel, up 3.89 percent at Rs.298.95; and Dr.Reddy's Laboratories, up 3.58 percent at Rs.2250.10.

The main losers were: Coal India, down 1.65 percent at Rs.249.95; State Bank of India, down 0.60 percent at Rs.1489.25; and Tata Power, down 0.52 percent at Rs.76.60.

Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.91 percent up; Hong Kong's Hang Seng was higher by 0.84 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.19 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was trading 0.58 percent up, Germany's DAX Index was up 0.26 percent and the French CAC 40 Index was up by 0.36 percent.