Sensex recovers 117 points on gains in telecom, oil stocks

The benchmark BSE Sensex ended its three-day losing run to close higher by nearly 117 points or 0.36% after a volatile trade on the back of gains in telecom, energy, oil & gas, banking and auto stocks.

The 30-share index settled higher by 116.76 points or 0.36%, at 32,506.72, driven by gains in Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, ICICI, HDFC Bank and Infosys.

The broader Nifty of National Stock Exchange scaled the 10,200 mark intra day before closing at 10,184.85, showing a sizeable gain of 38.30 points, or 0.38%. It shuttled between a high 10,224.15 and low of 10,124.50 in day trade.

The Nifty managed to end on a positive note, courtesy to smart buying in the latter half of the day, Sameet Chavan, Chief Analyst-Technical and Derivatives, Angel Broking, said.

“Market regained after a weak start due to expectation of earnings growth and positive global growth. Telecom sector outperformed on value buying in expectation of normalisation of tariffs, consolidation in the industry, and better outlook on data usage,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd.

Covering-up by speculators, who had been creating short positions, gave equities a push, a broker said.

Sentiment also got a lift after Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia suggested some rejig in GST rate structure to reduce the burden on small and medium businesses, brokers said.

Besides, positive cues from Asian markets with the Japan’s Nikkei posting the longest winning-streak of 15 days in its nearly 70-year history as markets cheered the weekend election victory of pro-business Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, had a positive impact, they said.

After a long Diwali break, market commenced higher at 32,411.86 points, tracking a firm trend at Asian markets. But stocks quickly slipped into negative terrain to hit a low of 32,312.74 as participants booked profits at improved levels.

However, revival of buying towards the middle of the session helped the index wipe out losses and touch a high of 32,614.89 before settling 0.36% higher.

Overall, in the last three straight sessions, the 30-share barometer had lost 243.68, including 194.39 points on the first day of Samvat 2074 in one-hour special ‘Muhurat’ session on Thursday on sustained foreign fund outflows.

Buying activity was so strong that sectoral indices, led by telecom, energy, realty and oil and gas, ended in the green.

Optimistic buying in some bluechip companies ahead of quarterly earnings to be released later this week too supported the rally.

Tracking overall trends, the broader markets were also in better shape with the mid-cap surging 0.45% and the small-cap index rising 0.09%.

Among 30 Sensex scrips 16 ended higher while remaining 14 closed lower.

Bharti Airtel emerged as top performer with 4.99% rise, followed by Reliance Industries at 3.05%.

Other gainers that supported the rebound were ICICI Bank 1.82%, Wipro 1.63%, Adani Ports 1.36%, Infosys 1.35%, SBI 1.34%, Hero MotoCorp 1.33%, Coal India 1.31%, Maruti Suzuki 1.07%, Power Grid 1% and Tata Steel 0.99%.

Among the laggards were Cipla, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank, HDFC Ltd., Lupin, Tata Motors, ITC Ltd., Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Auto and L&T, falling up to 2.38%.

Sector-wise, telecom rose the most 2.82% followed by energy 1.80%, teck 1.26%, realty 1.04%, IT 0.90%, Power 0.85%, oil & gas 0.81% and PSU 0.54%.

While, FMCG fell by 0.66%, healthcare 0.64% and capital goods 0.23%.

The market breadth turned negative as 1,429 stocks ended in red, 1,288 closed in green while 135 ruled steady.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to ₹3,901.97 crore.

Globally, Japan’s Nikkei ended up by 1.11%, Shanghai Composite Index by 0.06%, Singapore by 0.27%, but Hong Kong’s hang seng shed 0.64%.

In the euro zone, Frankfurt’s DAX rose 0.26% and Paris CAC 40 up 0.21% in their late morning deals.

London’s FTSE rose 0.03%.