Sensex at over 1-wk high, Nifty regains 7,900 mark on reforms

Markets rose for the third straight session today with Sensex gaining 146 pts to end at over one-week high of 26,575.65 and Nifty jumping 48 points to regain 7,900-mark led by power, metal and banking stocks after government laid a broad roadmap for coal mine allocation.
In line with government's initiatives, stocks of Jindal Steel Power, Hindalco, Tata Steel and Sesa Sterlite attracted good buying and surged up to 7.46 per cent, pushing up Sensex.
Besides, revival of buying by foreign funds after remaining net sellers on the Indian bourses for some time was another positive factor driving up markets, brokers said.

The 30-share index gathered another 145.80 points, or 0.55 per cent, to close at 26,575.65 after shuttling between 26,615.41 and 26,407.00. This is its highest closing since 26,637.28 on October 9.
The BSE gauge has rallied by over 576 points in 3 days.
After announcing diesel deregulation and new gas prices last week, the Modi government yesterday promulgation of an Ordinance to facilitate e-auction of coal blocks for private companies for captive use and allot mines directly to state and central PSUs. The move comes against the backdrop of the Supreme Court last month quashing allocation of 214 coal blocks to various companies since 1993.

"Revival of buying by foreign funds, helped pre-Diwali rally to gather further momentum", said Deepak Pahwa, a Delhi-based stock broker.

The National Stock Exchange index Nifty, reclaimed the key 7,900-mark by surging 48.35 points, or 0.61 per cent, to close at 7,927.75 after moving between 7,936.60 and 7,874.35.
In the 30-Sensex constituents, 22 ended higher, while 8 shares ended lower led by Coal India, ONGC, RIL and Infosys.
In broader markets, Financial Technologies (FTIL) stock tumbled 20 per cent after government ordered merger of crisis-ridden NSEL with holding firm, FTIL.
Sectorally, BSE Realty index gained the most by rising 2.63 per cent, followed by Power (2.55 per cent), Metal (1.71 per cent), Capital Goods (1.38 per cent), Banking (1.2 per cent) and Consumer Durables (1.18 per cent) among others.

Globally, mixed closing on other Asian markets and higher opening in Europe, also influenced the sentiment.
Meanwhile, provisional data released by Indian exchanges showed that Foreign Portfolio Investors bought shares worth a net Rs 1,040.08 crore yesterday.