ONGC lifts Sensex up by 111 pts, ICICI among gainers

Mumbai, May 20 (PTI) Led by oil and gas major ONGC, the
benchmark Sensex on BSE bounced back to close higher by 111
points, a day after it got a severe drubbing.
The 30-share index of the Bombay Stock Exchange gained
111.19 points, or 0.68 per cent, to end at 16,519.68 points.
Interestingly, the Indian market was the only gainer among
major bourses in the Asia Thursday.
The barometer had taken a hit of 467 points Wednesday on
debt concerns in euro zone.
The National Stock Exchange's wide-based 50-share Nifty
index settled at 4,947.60 points, up 0.57 per cent.
Discarding a rise in food prices and bearish Asian
stocks, the Sensex continued to trade in positive zone after a
firm opening. With European bourses also rising in their
opening, the index surged over 209 points by mid-session.
"Markets pulled back as investors took opportunity to
buy shares at relatively lower price. Though still markets are
on weaker side but a small bounce back cannot be ruled out in
a few coming sessions," SMC Capital vice-president Rajesh Jain
said.
End of the uncertainty over 3G spectrum auction, that
left the government with a Rs 67,710 crore revenue also helped
improve the market sentiment. Analysts said the government
earning nearly double the money it projected in the Budget
augurs well for the health of the economy.
Imports surging by a never-seen-before USD 8 billion
in April also helped. Sentiment got a fillip after the Indian
Met Department said the tropical cyclone 'Laila' will not
impact the monsoon pattern, which is forecast to be normal.
Public sector-major ONGC rallied 8.72 per cent to emerge
as the best performer among Sensex stocks. Brokers attributed
the rise government doubling prices of natural gas to USD 4.20
per mmBtu. PSU stock IOC gained 4 per cent and Gail India 2
per cent. Energy giant RIL advanced by 0.16 per cent
On sectoral front, PSU and Oil & Gas led the gain, while
a good buying was seen in pharma and banking stocks. However,
realty, auto and consumer good sectors ended in red.
ICICI Bank, which was battered in the past 2-3 sessions
on worries of valuation of a deal with BoR, recovered and
ended with a net gain of 1.01 per cent. State Bank of India
climbed 2.19 per cent and HDFC by 1.53 per cent.
Among the 30-components of the Sensex, 18 ended with gain
where rest 12 finished in negative zone. Sterlite Industries
rose 2.35 per cent and Cipla by 1.68 per cent.
Among the losers, Jaiprakash Associates dropped 3.28 per
cent and was followed by DLF by 2.81 per cent and Grasim by
2.45 per cent. Grasim will be replaced by Jindal Steel & Power
in the Sensex, the BSE said yesterday. The replacement will be
effective from May 26.
On theglobal front, all major Asian markets closed in
red. Europe was negative by the mid-session. PTI SKR
RDM


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