Banking and metal stocks helped pull the stock markets up from their 15-month depths on Tuesday, amid reassurances from the Finance Minister that the economy is fundamentally strong. The benchmark indices gained over 1.7 per cent, their biggest single-day gain since September 1.

The Sensex moved steadily up through Tuesday’s trading session, closing at 25,317.87, up 424 points. On the NSE, the Nifty gained 129 points to close at 7,688.25. After the extreme swings of last week, volatility was subdued, with the volatility index closing at 24.5675, down 6.76 per cent. The uptrend trickled down into the broader markets as well, with midcap and smallcap indices gaining over a percentage point each. Foreign investors, however, continued to be net sellers, divesting about ₹659.67 crore worth of shares. Retail investors were net sellers too, offloading ₹65.66 crore worth of equity on the BSE. Domestic institutions bought net equities worth ₹447.41 crore through the day.

Jayant Manglik, President, Retail Distribution, Religare Securities Ltd, said, “Among the sentiment boosters on Tuesday was the Prime Minister’s meeting with corporates, bankers and economists to discuss the global economic scenario and their expected impact on Indian economy. Additionally, the appreciation of the Indian rupee against the dollar too supported the markets.” Speaking to the press after the meeting, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that India would be less impacted by the global economic turmoil. On the NSE, the Bank Nifty index moved up 3.55 per cent, with YES Bank, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank leading the charge. The other big index gainers included GAIL, Tata Steel, Power Grid and BHEL.

Related Topics