Sensex springs back to life, ends higher by 104 pts

Mumbai, July 29

Putting its last 4 days of losing stretch behind, the benchmark BSE Sensex sprinted again, rallying 104 points to close above the 27,500 level, mostly on value-buying by participants ahead of July derivatives expiry.

A likely rate hike from the US Fed this year, many experts feel, will not cause much disruptions in emerging markets, including India, which supported the upside.

Besides, covering-up of short positions by speculators backed up recovery, equity brokers said.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's reassurance that the government will not take any "knee-jerk" reaction that will adversely impact country's investment climate did its bit.

Amid all this, worries over subdued corporate results so far remained.

The barometer touched a high of 27,609.29 before closing at 27,563.43, up 104.20 points, or 0.38 per cent. In the past straight four sessions, the Sensex had plunged 1,045.70 points.

The NSE Nifty also signed off higher by 38.05 points, or 0.46 per cent, at 8,375.05. Intra-day, the gauge traded in a range of 8,381.50 and 8,338.45.

Of the 30-stock pack, 20 registered gains.

IT giant Infosys came out on tops on the gainers' chart, up 2.04 per cent. Maruti, Lupin and BHEL too surged.

Tata Steel and Hindalco were back in demand, which rose up to 0.95 per cent on the back of a global recovery in industrial metals.

Coming to sectors, capital goods, IT, auto, banking, pharma and metal contributed to the upside.

Similarly, broader markets mid-cap and small-cap indices gave a better account of themselves, rising up to 0.89 per cent.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks closed mixed with an upward bias.

The Shanghai Composite Index rebounded 3.44 per cent after three sessions of loss. European markets were quoting higher in their late-morning deals. PTI