Sensex closes 516 points up; Nifty a tad below 7,950; HDFC top gainer

NEW DELHI: Making up for last session's losses, the S&P BSE Sensex surged 516.53 points, or 2.01 per cent, to settle the day at 26,231.19

The 50-share Nifty barometer climbed 157.1 points, or 2.02 per cent, to close the day at 7948.95.

21 of the 30 Sensex stocks ended the session in positive terrain.

HDFC was the top Sensex gainer, surging over 8 per cent.

The investors' sentiment was lifted by upbeat global equity markets which sparked a wave of bargain-hunting ahead of the expiry of derivative contracts at the end of the session.

The domestic markets also got a boost after the Wall Street ended a six-day losing streak, sparked by hints that the Federal Reserve would not raise interest rates following days of market turmoil over China. The Dow added 3.95 per cent, the S&P 500 closed up 3.90 per cent and the Nasdaq rose 4.24 per cent.

The rally came after comments by William Dudley, the head of the New York branch of the Fed and one of the most influential members of its monetary policy board, who said the case for a long-awaited rate hike in September had weakened.

The argument for adjusting monetary policy next month "seems less compelling to me than just a few weeks ago", he said Wednesday.

The S&P BSE Realty Index hit an intraday high of 4 per cent after the government on Wednesday allowed developers to divest 100 per cent equity in road projects two years after the completion of such schemes, a move that can unlock investments worth about Rs 4,500 crore in the sector.

Banking stocks, too, were on a roll, surging up to 4 per cent in intraday trade. Bank of Baroda rose nearly 4 per cent, and SBI added nearly 3 per cent. CNX Bank Nifty rallied over 250 points.

The Volatility Index, India VIX, also referred to as the fear gauge fell over 15 per cent during trade today.

Major European markets were trading in the positive territory. France's CAC 40 was and German DAX were up over 3 per cent each, while Britain's FTSE 100 rose over 2 per cent.

Earlier in the day, most Asian markets closed in the green. Leading the gains, China's Shanghai Composite surged 5.34 per cent, or 156.30 points, to settle the day at 3083.59. Japan's Nikkei rose 1.08 per cent, or 197.61 points, to close at 18,574.44. Extending the rally, Hong Kong's Hang Seng zoomed 758.15 points, or 3.6 per cent to finish the day at 21,838.54.

On the commodity front, oil prices jumped more than 4 per cent on Thursday after a rally in equity markets and an unexpected fall in US crude inventories, but worries over the health of the Chinese economy and a global oil glut kept the outlook uncertain.

Oil markets moved up from six-and-a-half-year lows reached earlier this week, but investors are still worried about a huge oversupply in the oil market which is depressing oil for immediate delivery and filling stockpiles worldwide.

The Rupee trimmed its early gains and hit day's low of Rs 66.14 against US dollar.
BUZZING STOCKS
Hathway Ltd zoomed over 16 per cent in intraday trade after RBI removed the stock from its caution list. Read here

Infosys Ltd rose over 3 per cent in intraday trade.

Ajanta Pharma Ltd trimmed gains after it added over 3 per cent in intraday trade.

Bharat Forge Ltd gained nearly 5 per cent in intraday trade.

HDFC Ltd shot over 8 per cent in intraday trade.

Vedanta Ltd spiked over 9 per cent in intraday trade.

Cairn India Ltd spurted over 9 per cent in intraday trade.

Kwality Ltd zoomed over 18 per cent in intraday trade.

Vakrangee Ltd surged 10 per cent in intraday trade.

Tata Steel Ltd gained over 6 per cent in intraday trade.

Treehouse Ltd shot over 12 per cent in intraday trade.

WHAT TOP EXPERTS SAY

China not the only factor responsible for global meltdown: Raghuram Rajan

Indian investors need to keep an eye on global factors affecting Indian companies: GeosphereCapital

Global markets have reacted to Fed comments positively: Kieran Calder, Coutts & Co

See a 400-point fall in Nifty; 7930 a strong resistance: Sandeep Wagle

Expect Nifty to fall further if it breaches below 7700: Ashwani Gujral

MARKETS THROUGH THE DAY

Markets @ 1:15

Sensex: 26,216, up 501 points; Nifty: 7,935; up 144 points

Markets @ 1:00

Sensex: 26,133, up 419 points; Nifty: 7,917, up 125 points

Markets @ 11:30

Sensex: 26,005, up 290 points, Nifty: 7,887, up 95 points

Top Gainers

HDFC (5.8%), VEDANTA LTD (5.7%), CIPLA (3.8%), LUPIN LTD (2.9%), INFOSYS LTD (1.9%)

Top Losers

BHEL (-3.2%), TATA MOTORS (-2.0%0, BAJAJ AUTO (-1.6%), HERO MOTOCORP (-0.1%0, COAL INDIA (-0.0%)

Markets @ 10:30

Sensex: 26,049, up 334 points, Nifty: 7,897, up 105 points

Top Gainers

VEDANTA LTD (6.7%), HDFC (5.4%), LUPIN LTD (3.3%), TATA STEEL (3.3%), INFOSYS LTD (3.1%)

Top Losers

BHEL (-3.2%), TATA MOTORS (-2.0%0, BAJAJ AUTO (-1.6%), HERO MOTOCORP (-0.1%0, COAL INDIA (-0.0%)

Markets @ 9:20

The 30-share index was trading at 26060, up 346 points or 1.35 per cent. It touched a high of 26,170.39 and a low of 26,013.14 in trade today.

The Nifty was at 7902 up 110 points or 1.4 per cent. It touched a high of 7930.80 and a low of 7880.15 in trade today.

The S&P BSE Midcap Index was up 1.45 per cent and BSE S&P Smallcap Index edged higher by 1.89 per cent.