Market recovers

A sombre sentiment can always be revived by a hefty dose of positive news. And the stock market is no exception. Investors, who were at the receiving end of last week’s volatility, were praying for stability and rebound as the much-required dose of positive news was present. While the Indian indices did open with a positive gap on Monday and stayed strong for the complete session, the undertone, at times, looked weak.

The 30-share Sensex gained 148.96 points to end the day above the 15,000-mark at 15,017.21. Earlier in the day, it opened with a positive gap of nearly 100 points at 14,965.65, before touching a high of 15,044.74. The broader S&P CNX Nifty closed at 4,373.65, up 40.30 points. Elsewhere in Asia, Hang Seng gained nearly 100 points, while Shanghai Composite moved up by 71 points.

Market analysts said even though the indices gained ground on Monday, investors’ confidence level remained low, as the indices lacked direction. News of overseas central banks injecting liquidity to bail out funds hit by the subprime crisis, along with the strong trend in Asian markets led to the rise in Sensex and Nifty, they added.

According to reports, the European Central Bank injected another $65.3 billion into the banking system on Monday. Last week, the bank had infused more than $200 billion. Central banks of US, Australia and Japan have also taken similar steps to bail out funds hit by the subprime crisis.

Further, global major Goldman Sachs also managed to get a $3 billion bailout package for its Global Equity Opportunities fund from a group of investors. Incidentally, latest data show that consumer retail spending in the US has registered moderate gains in July. At the time of going to press, the Dow was up 83 points at 13321.81.

Back home, market breadth remained strong, with nearly 1,200 stocks gaining ground on BSE, as against 800 losing. Most of the sectoral indices also gained moderately. The BSE IT index played rogue, slipping to end marginally lower.

In the Sensex pack, 27 stocks gained ground, while three ended on the losing side. Hindustan Unilever surged more than 4% to close at Rs 203.55. The auto pack comprising Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Auto and Maruti Udyog all appreciated in the range of 2-4% each.

The turnover on BSE and NSE was pegged at Rs 4,157.97 crore and Rs 8,257.86 crore, respectively. According to provisional figures on the BSE, FIIs were net sellers at Rs 559.58 crore on Monday.