By IANS,
Mumbai : A good start by European bourses coupled with news that the Obama administration was planning to buy $1 trillion worth of toxic assets sent Indian equities markets spiralling, with a key index Monday closing 5.1 percent above its previous close.
The 30-scrip Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensitive index (Sensex), which opened at 9,040.3 points, shut shop at 9,424.02 points – a rise of 457.34 points or 5.1 percent.
Similarly, the S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) gained 4.73 percent from its last close to end trade at 2,939.9 points.
The BSE midcap index ended 2.73 percent higher, while the BSE smallcap index was up 2.01 percent.
“The bounce is quite impressive, but investors will remain sceptical about the sustainability of this rally,” said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, equity head with SMC Capital.
All the 13 sectoral indices on the exchange ended in positive terrain, with the indices for banking, metal and oil and gas stocks gaining the most.
Among the 30 composite Sensex, 29 stocks closed in the green while only one – DLF – ended in the red.
Top gainers were Ranbaxy, up 10.8 percent at Rs.161.05; Tata Steel, up 10.39 percent at Rs.194.40; Reliance Infra, up 9.88 percent at Rs.530.60; and Hindalco, up 9.35 percent at Rs.52.05.
The Tata Motors scrip, which shot up by 8 percent ahead of the launch of Nano, fell from its intra-day high to close at Rs.166.05, a rise of 3.2 percent from its previous close.
The overall market sentiment was positive, with 1,629 stocks advancing, 899 scrips declining and 114 remaining unchanged.
The markets rose after the US government late Sunday said it would initially commit up to $100 billion to subsidise private investors’ purchase of the “toxic” or worthless assets on bank books.
The aim of the public-private partnerships is to buy up at least $500 billion of bad assets, and possibly up to $1 trillion over time.
“Over time, by providing a market for these assets that does not now exist, this programme will help improve asset values, increase lending capacity by banks, and reduce uncertainty about the scale of losses on bank balance sheets,” US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner wrote in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal newspaper.
Asian markets were a mixed bag with Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average shutting shop 269.57 points higher than its previous close, while the Hang Seng, a key index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange ended trade 4.78 percent or 613.91 points higher at 13,447.42 points.
European markets, which came online before Indian bourses ended trade, were ruling in the green, with the FTSE in Britain trading 1.65 percent higher and its French peer CAC 40 trading in positive terrain, 40.56 points or 1.45 percent higher.