Mumbai, Sept 20: The BSE Sensex shot up 345 points to regain the 17k level after a week today and closed at 17,099.28 as investors bought IT stock led by Infosys and TCS amid weakening rupee, which would boost their export earnings, and a firm global trend.
All the 13 sectoral indices ended with sharp to moderate gains. Besides, barring ONGC and BHEL, all the 30 scrips that constitute the BSE benchmark Sensex ended in the green.
RIL and Infosys—with about 20 per cent weight in the Sensex—contributed nearly 110 points to the index gain, with rise of 3.73 per cent and 3.22 per cent respectively.
The rupee fell to a fresh two-year low against the US dollar, raising hopes that software exporters would benefit the most. Indian IT exporters earn over 85 per cent revenues from the US and European markets.
Besides Infosys, TCS and Wipro, up 3.94 per cent and 2.74 per cent, helped the IT index become the star performer among sectoral indices. It gained 3.23 per cent. Strong Asian and European markets improved investor sentiment, leading the Sensex to settle at 17,099.28, up 353.93 points or 2.11 per cent. Yesterday, it had tumbled by over 188 points or 1.11 per cent.
The broader NSE 50-issue Nifty also rebounded by 108.25 points or 2.15 per cent to end above 5,100-level at 5,140.20. Other heavyweights such as HDFC, ICICI Bank, SBI, ITC, HDFC Bank, Tata Motors and Hindalco attracted good buying.
“Rupee weakening against the dollar aided the buying in technology stocks. Besides, European markets trading in the positive zone helped the sentiments during the afternoon session,” said Shanu Goel, Senior Research Analyst at Bonanza Portfolio.
Globally, key indices from China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan closed with marginal gains. European equities, however, showed stronger recovery in the afternoon deals. The CAC was up 1.46 per cent, the DAX (2.10 pc) and the FTSE (1.32 pc).
Analysts said investors hoped that Greece was close to a deal with international creditors to get its next tranche of aid, despite downgrading of Italy's long-term and short-term sovereign credit ratings by Standard & Poor's.
“Markets will await announcements from global developments such as the two-day Federal Reserve meeting. Any announcement on QE3 - quantitative easing, or a similar economy boosting measure would lead to buying action in the equity markets,” said Amit Chheda, Head Equity, Inventure Growth and Securities.
Back home, after two days of inflows, FIIs pulled out Rs 166.21 crore yesterday as per provisional Sebi data. Other Sensex gainers included SBI (3.78 pc), DLF (3.46 pc), HDFC (3.36 pc), Sterlite Ind (3.08 pc), Tata Motors (2.94 pc), Jaipra Asso (2.70 pc), ICICI Bank (2.65 pc), HUL (2.01 pc), Sun Pharma (1.96 pc), ITC (1.53 pc), Tata Steel (1.54 pc) and HDFC Bank (1.33 pc).
Among the sectoral indices, the BSE-IT flared up by 3.23 pc, Teck (2.79 pc), Consumer Durables (2.74 pc), Bankex (2.31 pc), Metal (1.97 pc) and Oil&Gas (1.94 pc).
The total market breadth at BSE turned positive as 1,849 stocks closed in the green, while 937 finished in the red. The total turnover rose to Rs 2,541.07 crore from Rs 2,294.25 crore yesterday. PTI
