Sensex spurts in broad rally...Heavyweights shine

On the auspicious day of Janmashtami, Lord Krishna's birthday, the bulls seemed to receive a major boost in the form of a strong trading session. The key Indian stock indices ended with smart gains at the end of a choppy session, starting off the week on a positive note. Impressive buying was seen in Oil & Gas, Power, Metals, Capital Goods and FMCG stocks. Even the Mid-Cap and the Small-Cap stocks witnessed smart buying.



Finally, the BSE Sensex ended at 16,341 gaining 200 points. It had earlier touched a day's high of 16,370 and a day's low of 16,046. It opened at 16,156. The NSE Nifty closed at 4,898 adding 53 points.

JP Associates, ONGC, Wipro, Tata Power, Bajaj Auto, Hindalco, RIL, TataMotors and Jindal Steel are among the leading gainers in the Sensex and Nifty.

The notable losers in the Sensex and Nifty are DLF, HDFC, Infosys, TCS,M&M and HUL.

The Sensex and the Nifty started well but lost some ground in early afternoon before bouncing back in the late trade. The sentiment got a fillip after the European markets rebounded from a weak opening, lifting the Nifty above 4900.

"Volatility is likely to remain elevated for a while amid fragile global economic conditions. The global mayhem has dampened the sentiment even as worries have grown about moderation in the domestic economy. India’s Q1 GDP report will be out on August 31. But before that we will have to contend with the F&O expiry.

Only a sustained recovery in the overseas markets can lift the pall of gloom. For the time being, one should adopt a measured approach. Valuations have come off in many leading counters; so it is worthwhile to make some quality purchases," says Amar Ambani, Head of Research, IIFL - India Private Clients.

Asian markets closed a choppy session mostly lower. The Nikkei in Japan shed 1% while the Kospi in South Korea slumped nearly 2%. The Hang Seng recovered from intraday lows while most others finished in the red.

Thai stocks slid in afternoon trading after official data showed that the nation's GDP unexpectedly contracted 0.2% in the three months ended June 30 from the preceding quarter.

In commodities, gold futures notched up a fresh nominal record in electronic trading in Asian trading hours.

Brent oil fell in London, as investors bet that Libyan production may recover after Libyan rebel forces seized control of much of Tripoli and took two of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's sons into custody.

In currencies, the rupee touched its weakest level in nearly nine months, dragged by dollar demand from oil refiners for import payments as well as bunched up outflows following last Friday's holiday. However, it did recover as stocks rallied.

The yen weakened from near its post-war record against the dollar and the Swiss franc fell amid speculation that policy makers will seek to curb gains in their currencies.