Markets rebound, close higher over 1.50%

The Indian markets recovered most of the losses made yesterday and finally closed the session higher by more than 1.50%. The Sensex zoomed 300 points ahead, while Nifty rose by 100 points. 

Among the sectoral indices, Realty had a very good run up, closing higher by more than 6%. Buying was seen in the stocks of Capital Goods, Power and Bankex, which resulted in the indices closing higher by more than 3%. On the other hand, IT and FMCG were the only 2 indices that closed the session in the red zone.

Other Asian markets too closed on a positive note, with Shanghai and Nikkei ending up 0.20% and 0.92% respectively. Hang Seng closed the day 1.65% higher on speculations that the Chinese govt. will ease the monetary policy, which will further fuel growth in the economy, and also on the back of companies like Hang Seng Bank and Country Garden posting better results than the street estimates.

The European market is currently trading marginally in the green zone.

Dow Jones Futures is currently trading 41 points or 0.31% up at 13010, indicating a positive sentiment in the US markets.

Back home, BHEL was the leading index gainer, up 6.74% at Rs 308.65. The Metals pack also performed well today, with Hindalco and Sterlite Industries closing up 4.97% and 4.58% respectively. Other stocks like HDFC Bank, Bajaj Auto, L&T, Tata Steel, DLF, etc. closed higher by over 3%. HUL, Bharti Airtel, HDFC and GAIL India closed marginally higher less than 1%. On the other hand, IT majors, TCS, Wipro and Infosys, closed down in the range of 0.31%-1.80%. Others like ITC, NTPC and Sun Pharma also closed the session down in the red zone.

JSW Steel closed up 4.69% at Rs 794.05 after the crude steel production number came in at 8.05 lakh tonnes for Jan 2012. GVK Power and Infra closed 8.13% up at Rs 17.30 after the company clarified that it has not entered into any agreement with any party for selling equity stake in its airports and oil & gas businesses.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, was positive. Out of the 3350 stocks traded on the BSE, 2368 advanced, 852 declined and 130 stocks remained unchanged.

In conclusion, we expect the markets to remain volatile as investors are jittery about investing in markets that fail to provide any concrete direction.