Sensex on road to recovery, up 169 pts

New Delhi: The stock markets seemed to be recovering from the devastating impact of RBI`s rate hikes. BSE Sensex gained 169 points on emergence of buying support from foreign funds and firm Asian cues on Tuesday.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 30-share index moved upwards to the intra-day high of 12,657.75. It later ended the day at 12,624.58, a net rise of 169.21 points or 1.36 per cent over yesterday`s close of 12,455.37.

Capital goods, power, pharma and metal stocks were among the top gainers. Select auto stocks were under pressure. The volumes were very low and the midcap index under-performed the broader markets.

BHEL and NTPC shares led rally and were the top gainers on the BSE Sensex. HDFC and Zee Entertainment too ended higher.

Shares of ICICI Bank, Centurion BoP, HDFC, Kotak Mahindra and Bank of Baroda moved upwards. The BSE Capital Goods Index moved up 2.2 per cent at 8,912.32. Praj Industries, Crompton Greave, Aban Offshore, BHEL, Bharat Elec closed higher.

The BSE Health Care Index was up 2 per cent at 3,645.99. Novartis India, Nicholas Pirama, Divis Labs, Dr Reddys Labs, Aurobindo Pharm closed higher.

The BSE Metal Index closed at 8,366.76 up 1.8 per cent. Guj NRE Coke, Hind Zinc, Sterlite Ind, Tata Steel, Welspun Guj advanced higher.

The BSE FMCG Index closed flat at 1,713.11. Colgate, Nestle, Tata Tea, Nirma closed higher. BSE Oil and Gas Index closed higher at 6,371.32 up 1.3 per cent. GAIL, Reliance, Reliance Natura, BPCL ended in green.

The BSE IT Index gained 1 per cent at 4,814.24. I-Flex Solution, HCL Tech, Patni Computer, Wipro closed higher.

The NSE cash turnover was at Rs 6,966.06 crore and the NSE F&O turnover was at Rs 22,068.38 crore. The BSE cash turnover was Rs 3,219.45 crore. Total market wide turnover was at Rs 32,253.89 crore.

Market cues:

• FIIs net sell $107.6 million in equity on April 2
• MFs net buy Rs 63.5 crore (Rs 635 million) in equity on April 2
• NSE F&O Open Interest up by Rs 903 crore (Rs 9.03 billion) at Rs 40,531 crore (Rs 405.31 billion)

With inputs from moneycontrol.com