By IANS,
Mumbai : Indian equity markets Wednesday broke the downtrend since the middle of last week, with investors deciding to take profits by short-covering their positions, and a key index ending trade about 3.3 percent above its previous close.
The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) shut shop 3.3 percent or 299.13 points higher than its previous close Tuesday ending trade at 9,370.49 points.
The Sensex opened at 9,207.52 Wednesday, higher than Tuesday’s close of 9,071.36.
The broader S&P CNX Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended trade at 2,835.3 points, higher by 90.35 points or 3.29 percent.
Other market indices like the BSE midcap index gained 1.9 percent while the smallcap index rose 1.26 percent.
Among the 30 stocks comprising the Sensex, 26 stocks ended in the positive terrain while four scrips slipped into the red. Wednesday’s trading was positive with 1,402 stocks advancing as opposed to 982 declining scrips, and 105 stocks remained unchanged.
Major gainers included Reliance Communications (up 10.36 percent to close at Rs.185.4), Reliance Infra (up 9.7 percent at Rs.522.35), Reliance Industries (up 9 percent at Rs.1,178.15) and Infosys (up 6.07 percent at Rs.1,304.85).
Top losers included Grasim Industries (down 3.35 percent to Rs.1,283.45) and Sun Pharma (down 1.26 percent to Rs.1,120.20), and HDFC Bank (down 1.17 percent to Rs.977.35).
Other Asian markets fell after rising higher in morning sessions. The Nikkei, a key index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, ended trade 0.29 percent higher while the Hang Seng, a key index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, also gained ending trade 0.27 percent higher than its last close.
European markets opened weak with the FTSE index in Britain ruling 0.98 percent lower than its previous close.