Mumbai:
Helped by a smart rebound in rupee after current account gap moderated sharply, the S&P BSE Sensex on Thursday surged by 324 points to end at one-week high of 18,875.95 on strong gains in RIL, HDFC Bank and Infosys.
Hectic short-covering activity on last day of June derivative series as well as hopes of US Fed possibly delaying the planned tapering of monetary stimulus, also boosted the Indian markets, traders said. Investor wealth rose by over Rs 1 lakh crore as overall more than 1,200 stocks gained.
The BSE 30-share gauge resumed higher following firm Asian cues triggered by strong rally on Wall Street on Wednesday and remained in positive terrain before settling at 18,875.95, a rise of 323.83 points or 1.75 per cent. This is its highest close since 19,245.70 on June 19.
On Wednesday, Sensex had slipped by 77 points.
Buying on Thursday was seen in front-line, mainly index-based, stocks while second-line counters underperformed the Sensex on lack of major support from retail investors.
Out of the 30-scrip Sensex, 20 stocks closed with gains led by ONGC gaining 4.14 per cent. Reliance Industries surged by 3.48 per cent and Infosys jumped by 3.31 per cent.
Overall, 11 out of 13 sectoral indices closed in the green while only BSE-CD and BSE-CG ended with losses. Shares from refinery, IT, Teck, pharma, realty and banking segments were at the forefront of the recovery.
Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty gained 93.65 points, or 1.68 per cent, to close at 5,682.35. Also, SX40 index, the flagship index of MCX-SX, closed 170.48 points, or 1.54 per cent higher at 11,219.19.
Recovery in the rupee value on Thursday to 60.2 levels from historic closing low of 60.72 on Wednesday after CAD moderated "sharply" to 3.6 per cent of GDP in March quarter of 2012-13 fiscal compared to 6.7 per cent in December quarter, soothed frailed nerves of investors.
"Release of the balance of payments data two days ahead of schedule suggests that the RBI is trying to calm markets following USD/INR breaching 60 yesterday evening," said Sonal Varma, India economist, Nomura.
