Markets End in Green Led by IT Stocks

After touching an intra-day high of 18,457, the Sensex eventually shed a few points to close the day at 18,438, up 227 points from its previous close, supported by a strong rally in the IT and Teck spaces. Today’s recovery comes as a relief after last Friday’s fall of 295 points, wherein the Sensex closed at 18,212. The Nifty also extended gains at 5,519 up 60 points from its previous close. A consensus on the 2G scam JPC, along with a robust GDP projection of nearly 9% for the coming fiscal by C Rangarajan, Chairman of the PM’s Economic Advisory Council, buoyed investor sentiment, with markets covering most of their losses incurred on February 18. Gainers on the Sensex were TCS at Rs 1,137 and Wipro at Rs 450, both up by a handsome 4%, while Sterlite Industries at Rs 166 gained 3%. Auto stocks were the major losers on the BSE benchmark today; Tata Motors at Rs 1,162 was down 3%, Hero Honda at Rs 1,439 slipped 2% and Maruti Suzuki closed down 1% at Rs 1,213. However, owing to a pre-budget sentiment buffering, the markets opened on a positive note this morning, with Budget-related positive news flow and softening inflation eased investors' nervousness. The Indian equity markets, down 11% so far this year, and amongst the worst performing market after Egypt, saw an outflow of $1.65 billion on the back of unhealthy political headwinds, and a deepening telecom spectrum scam.