Snapping the 3-day falling streak, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today gained 110 points on fresh buying in blue-chips at attractive levels amid Government comments that inflation would ease on the back of a good monsoon, even as global markets remained weak.
The Sensex, which had lost nearly 400 points in the last three trading sessions, bounced back on strong buying to close 109.86 points up at 16,840.80, after touching 17,000.38.
The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also rose 20.80 points to 5,056.60 led by IT, FMCG, capital goods and metal sectors. It touched the day’s high of 5,112.15.
Brokers said that the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee’s comments that inflationary pressure would ease further on the back of good monsoon helped lift the sentiment.
Inflation eased marginally to 9.22 per cent in July, from 9.44 per cent in June. High inflation has put pressure on interest rates hitting corporate margins. The Reserve Bank of India has raised key interest rate 11 times since March last year to tame inflation.
However, a weak trend in global markets capped the gains in the domestic market.
Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Coal India, BHEL, L&T, HDFC Bank and ONGC helped the rally.
The IT sector index gained the most, rising 2.23 per cent to 5,162.52, followed by Tech index — up 1.57 per cent at 3,242.32. FMCG index rose 1.38 per cent to 3,971.64 and capital goods 0.59 per cent to 12,132.35.
The realty sector index remained the major loser for the second straight day as DLF — the country’s largest developer — slumped 6.03 per cent to Rs 177.60 as the Competition Commission of India has imposed Rs 630 crore penalty on it for ‘abuse of dominant position’. It has lost 14 per cent in the past four days.