Sensex surges 291 points to recover from 20-month low

Equities recovered from 20-month lows today as the benchmark BSE Sensex rose by 291.47 points -- its biggest single-day gain of 2016 -- to 24,479.84, tracking some stability in global markets, while bargain-hunting investors also lapped up recently beaten-down stocks.
All the sectors ended in green with the shares of capital goods, infra, banking and realty helping the index snap a three-day losing streak.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries perked up by 2.51 per cent to Rs 1,043.60 before its quarterly earnings report.
"Indian markets, especially at open, got a breather, after Chinese GDP numbers came in more or less as expected. Rise in oil also helped sentiment, which was further boosted by rise in European markets," Anand James, Co Head Technical Research Desk of Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

The BSE Sensex resumed higher at 24,257.28 and hovered in a range of 24,563.34 to 24,247.23 before ending at 24,479.84, showing a gain of 291.47 points or 1.21 per cent.
The index had lost almost 666 points in the previous three days following a massive dip in exports and weak global cues after crude slipped below USD 28 a barrel.

Today's gain was also index's biggest single-day gain since December 17.
The 50-share NSE Nifty recaptured the crucial 7,400-mark by bouncing 84.10 points or 1.14 per cent to 7,435.10.
In stock-specific action, Anil Ambani-led Reliance Power surged 3.80 per cent after reporting a 38 per cent rise in consolidated profit to Rs 351.81 crore for December quarter.

Meanwhile, China's economy grew 6.8 per cent in the fourth quarter, data released today showed, easing from 6.9 per cent in the third quarter. This was the weakest pace of expansion since the first quarter of 2009.
But, hopes of fresh stimulus by the policymakers in China gave a boost to the global shares.
The Shanghai Composite index ended with a gain of 3.22 per cent. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index rose 2.07 per cent, while indexes in Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan rose by 0.56 per cent to 1.75 per cent.
Back home, out of the 30-share Sensex, 22 scrips ended

higher.
Major gainers were Adani Ports (5.90 pc), Axis Bank (5.23 pc), Tata Motors (3.71 pc), L&T (3.68 pc), Bharti Airtel (3.26 pc), ICICI Bank (2.74 pc), Reliance Industries (2.51 pc), Hero MotoCorp (2.13 pc), HDFC (1.65 pc), ONGC (1.44 pc) and BHEL (1.30 pc).
However, M&M fell by 1.19 per cent followed by Wipro 1.02 per cent, Coal India (0.92 pc), Asian Paints (0.63 pc), Maruti (0.61 pc) and ITC (0.44 pc).
Buying by retail investors too reemerged in broader markets helping the mid-cap and small-cap indices gain up to 1.75 per cent.
Among BSE sectoral indices, industrials rose by 3.01 per cent, followed by capital goods 2.85 per cent, telecom (2.74 pc), bankex (1.68 pc), realty (1.67 pc), finance (1.57 pc), healthcare (1.49 pc) and energy (1.36 pc).

The market breadth turned positive as 1,727 shares ended higher, 948 closed lower while 150 ruled steady. The total turnover fell to Rs 3,062.84 crore from Rs 3,191.81 crore yesterday.