Sensex back in form, jumps 217 points on global cues

Mumbai: After taking a day's breather, the benchmark BSE Sensex on December 21, resumed its upward climb by bouncing back almost 217 points to 25,735.90 spurred by a rally in banking, metal and PSU stocks as buying picked up. The broader NSE Nifty too regained the key 7,800-mark.

Moreover, a firm trend in Asia and a higher opening of European markets buoyed shares, helping Sensex reverse its initial losses. Sentiment was also bolstered amid hopes that Parliament would manage to pass the crucial bankruptcy Bill, brokers said. Seeking to improve ease of doing business, the government today introduced in Parliament the 'Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2015' which provides for resolution of insolvency in a time-bound manner. The Bill aims at promoting investments, leading to higher economic growth.

The rupee appreciated for the fifth day in a row against the American currency to 66.27 (intra-day), which acted as a catalyst. The 30-share Sensex after opening in the negative zone, slipped further on profit-booking and prevailing uncertainty over passage of the GST Bill. But it staged a strong comeback and closed higher by 216.68 points, or 0.85 per cent, at 25,735.90. On Friday, the Sensex dropped for the first time in five days after losing 284.56 points as participants locked in gains in blue-chips as the government lowered its economic growth forecast for 2015-16 to 7-7.5 per cent.

The broader NSE Nifty recaptured the 7,800-mark and finally settled at 7,834.45, up 72.50 points, or 0.93 per cent. Intra-day, it touched a low of 7,733.45. The recovery in Sensex was supported by gains in ICICI Bank, up 3.24 per cent, while ONGC surged 3.16 per cent and ITC 2.68 per cent. M&M, Hero MotoCorp, Axis Bank and SBI advanced. Sun Pharma was the biggest loser, tumbling 4.55 per cent, as the company has received a warning letter from USFDA on manufacturing practices at its facility at Halol in Gujarat.

GAIL, Hind Unilever and Asian Paint also lost. While most foreign investors are on vacation ahead of Christmas and New Year, domestic financial institutions were seen extending support. Sectorwise, the BSE metal index gained the most, rising 1.47 per cent, followed by banking, realty, PSU and FMCG. In broader markets, the BSE small-cap rose 0.82 per cent and mid-cap ended 0.64 per cent higher on the fresh spell of buying by retail investors.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) net sold shares worth Rs 6.99 crore last Friday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.  

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