Putting to end seven days of losses, the markets bounced back on Thursday after finance minister P Chidambaram put to rest fears of any US-like meltdown, saying that the credit crisis gripping the country posed no threat to public sector banks in India. Also, positive cues from the European bourses helped lift market sentiment.
The 30-share Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex added 52.70 points or 0.40% ending the day at 13,315.60 points. The broader Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) gained 29.90 points or 0.75%, closing at 4,038.15 points.
Hitesh Agrawal, head of research at Angel Broking, said, ?We assume that investors have realised that the worst is over in the international markets. After the finance minister declared that Indian banks are not vulnerable to the global credit crisis, the markets have turned buoyant.?
Huge volatility was witnessed in the markets as the Sensex opened at 12,712.82 points before touching an intra-day high of 13,346.79 and a low of 12,558.14 before closing at 13,315.60. Among the BSE Sectoral indices, Bankex was the top gainer, climbing 176.67 points or 2.68%, while Realty, IT, Teck, Metal, Health Care and Consumer Durables ended the day in the red.
Dealers in the market say any surge in inflation figures will have some negative impact on markets on Friday. The inflation, which was declared on Thursday, rose to 12.14% for the week ended September 6 against 12.10% last week.
Though the markets ended on a positive note, the breadth was, however, negative. Out of 2,690 stocks traded on the BSE, only 676 managed to go up, while 1,944 declined and 70 were unchanged.
In the Sensex pack, 15 stocks were in the green, while remaining 15 ended in the red. Foreign institutional investors continued tanking and were net sellers at Rs 1,201.64 crore, as per the provisional figures of the BSE.