Markets have a good day, up 3%

Indian markets, which remained positive for the entire day, cheered up investors today. Disregarding the weak sentiments that dominated last week, all the benchmark indices moved sharply up today.

The Sensex closed on 16162.87, up by 467 points, or 2.98%. Earlier, the benchmark index opened on a positive note, and kept adding points in the later sessions. The metals sector remained highly positive, and closed up by 4.91%.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is considering bailing out Italy with a US$ 800 billion loan. This move has been taken positively by the markets all over the world.

Asian shares advanced on the back of these European cues. The Hang Seng and Nikkei both closed up by over 1%, while Shanghai was marginally up.

Among the European indices too, the CAC and DAX were seen celebrating with an upward movement of 3.87% and 3.29% respectively. The FTSE is also up by 2.26%.

Amongst the Sensex stocks, Hindalco Industries, which was up by over 3% by mid-day, extended its gains in the later sessions as well. The scrip closed up by over 9%. Stocks of Jaiprakash Associates, which were up by 2% during the afternoon trades, closed at 64.50, up by 6.26%. Financial stocks of Sterlite Industries, Sun Pharma, HDFC and Tata Motors rallied by over 5% each. RIL was up by 3.78%. From the IT stocks, TCS, Infosys and Wipro were also trading in positives.

Bajaj Auto and Hero MotorCorp were the only losers among the Sensex stocks.

Educomp Solutions rallied by 16% and closed at 217.50. The shares of Glenmark closed in the red despite the fact that its generics division has received tentative approval for its anti-asthma tablets. Lanco Infra also closed up by 6.72%, as the company is planning to hike coal prices in Australia. BPCL has found more gas reserves in Mozambique, which pushed the stock northward by 4.38%.

The overall market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, was extremely positive. Out of a total of 3182 stocks traded, 2223 advanced, 863 declined, while 96 stocks remained unchanged.