Mumbai: Equities rebounded from 1-month lows on Thursday with benchmark Sensex surging 271 points, its first rise in four sessions, as investors went on a buying spree in beaten-down shares enthused by IMF upping India growth forecast and on hopes of insurance bill passage in Parliament.
Buying was also seen ahead of macro data release like IIP for January and retail inflation for February later today.
The BSE Sensex rallied 271.24 points to end at 28,930.41 and the NSE Nifty reclaimed its 8700-mark as it gained 76.05 points to end at 8,776.00.
Fears over an imminent rise in US interest rates had wreaked havoc in global financial markets recently. Indian benchmark indices cracked about 2.7 percent in three days.
Analysts said passage of the insurance bill could raise optimism that other stalled reforms would also move ahead.
While the government has promulgated an ordinance to hike FDI in insurance business from 26 percent to 49 percent, a bill in this regard is scheduled to be tabled in Rajya Sabha today. The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha last week.
After a strong start, key indices maintained its buoyancy throughout as confident investors lapped up shares in power, realty, consumer durables, FMCG, capital goods and auto. Additionally, mid-cap and small-cap stocks surged.
"Besides firm Asian markets, sentiments were up-beat with IMF's latest report raising its forecasts of India's economic growth to 7.2 percent in the current fiscal year, compared to 5.6 percent predicted earlier," said Jayant Manglik, President-retail distribution, Religare Securities.
The Sensex opened higher at 28,798.61 and traded between 28,971.01 and 28,772.71 before concluding at 28,930.41, showing a smart rise of 271.24, or 0.95 percent.
The 50-share broader CNX Nifty also bounced back by 76.05 points, or 0.87 percent to end at 8,776.00.
Shares linked to insurance saw good activity with Reliance Capital leading the charts with over 10 percent gains. Max India, Aditya Birla Nuvo and Bajaj Finserv also moved up.
The dollar edged closer towards parity with the euro today in the backdrop of the European Central Bank kicking off its stimulus programme this week, while Asian equity markets recovered slightly from a recent sell-off.
Bank of Korea slashing its base rate for the first time in five months by 25 basis points to spur sluggish growth also helped key Asian indices. Benchmarks in China, Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan rose by 0.34 to 1.78 percent while those in Singapore and South Korea fell by 0.38 to 0.52 percent.
European stocks were trading lower in late morning deals. France's CAC was down by 0.19 percent and Germany's DAX by 0.29 percent while the UK's FTSE was up by 0.87 percent.
Back home, 24 out of 30 Sensex-based scrips closed up.
Sesa Sterlite was the top gainer with a rise of 3.63 percent, NTPC 3.54 percent, Hindalco 3.37 percent, Sun Pharma 2.46 percent, Tata Motors 2.35 percent, ITC 2.35 percent, Tata Steel 2.32 percent, BHEL 2.31 percent, Bharti Airtel 1.96 percent, ICICI Bank 1.57 percent and Infosys 1.57 percent.
However, Dr Reddy's declined by 1.40 percent, Coal India by 1.23 percent, M&M 1.06 percent and Bajaj Auto 1.01 percent among others.
Total market breadth was positive as 1,643 stocks rose while 1,229 lost ground and 141 held stable. The total turnover was up at Rs 3,726.88 crore from Rs 3,495.84 crore yesterday.
