Sensex zooms 533 points, Nifty ends above 17,650; metal, banking shares lead gains

Benchmark indices snapped their four-session losing streak, led by gains in index heavyweights such as Reliance Industries, Infosys and ICICI Bank. Sensex closed 533.74 points or 0.91 per cent higher at 59,299 and Nifty surged 159.20 points or 0.91 per cent to 17,691.25.

NTPC was the top Sensex gainer, rising around 4 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, SBI, Bajaj Finance, Tech Mahindra, Dr Reddy's and Tata Steel.

On the other hand, Bajaj Auto, HUL, Nestle India, Kotak Bank and Titan were among the top Sensex losers, falling up to 0.75%.

 Of 30 Sensex shares, 24 ended higher. BSE midcap and small cap indices rose 379 points and 481 points, respectively.

 Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities. said, "Nifty has formed a bullish morning star pattern though its placement is normally after a deep/prolonged sell-off. Advance decline ratio is also sharply positive. Nifty could continue its uptick and remain in the 17576-17781 band for the near term."  

 On the sectoral front, metal, banking, capital goods and healthcare shares led the gains with the BSE metal index ending 539 points higher at 20,845 and BSE bankex zooming 387 points.  

BSE capital goods and BSE healthcare indices ended 373 points and 399 points in trade today.  

Market breadth was positive with 2,333 shares ending higher against 1,016 shares closing in the red.

192 shares were unchanged.

Meanwhile, the rupee tumbled 19 paise to close at 74.31 against the US dollar as a stronger greenback against key rivals and rising crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiment.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 74.16 and witnessed an intra-day high of 74.13 and a low of 74.41 against the US dollar in day trade.

Global markets  

Global stocks fell, with Hong Kong's benchmark down more than 2% after troubled property developer China Evergrande's shares were suspended from trading.  

Germany's DAX declined 0.2% to 15,131.70 while the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.3% to 6,498.98. Britain's FTSE 100 was flat at 7,027.72.

In Asia, the Hang Seng sank 2.2% to 24,036.37 while Tokyo's Nikkei 225 dropped 1.1% to 28,444.89. Shares fell 1% in Taiwan.