Markets Close in Green After Nine Days Above the 18500 Mark

Markets bounced back after posting losses for nine consecutive sessions as commodity prices plunged overnight and buying emerged in banking and auto counters. Nifty opened in the green and touched a high of 5,564 in the last leg of the trade led by short covering.  Recovery was anticipated as markets were extremely oversold due to heavy selling seen in the past few sessions. Investors cheered falling crude prices as it could bring some respite to high inflation which has been eating into companies operating margins. S&P CNX Nifty closed up 92 points, at 5551 and the Sensex surged 308 points, at 18,519. Brent crude fell from a high of $124/bbl to $109/bbl, down nearly 13% in one day, the steepest decline in last two years. Investors cashed in on banking shares which were battered badly in the sell-off after the 50 bps rate hike on Tuesday. The BSE Bankex index was up 3.7%.Auto shares were also in the top gear, the BSE auto index advanced 3.1%. The midcap and smallcap indices were up 0.9% and 0.7% each. The market breadth was positive,1633 stocks advanced for 1173 stocks which declined.