A rally in the IT and PSU counters aided the Bombay Stock Exchange sensitive index, Sensex, record gains for the third consecutive day and closed above the 16000-mark at 16042.18 on Tuesday against 15935.61 on Monday, a gain of 107 points, amid positive global cues following easing of the sovereign debt worries in the eurozone region.
The Sensex touched a low of 15862.90 at opening shedding 71 points, but gradually moved up and remained in the green for the rest of the day and hit a high of 16087.83 before closing at 16042.18.
IT stocks were at the forefront on bargain hunting after the recent crash while PSU stocks saw good buying support. Marketmen said the rally in IT stocks was driven by the easing of sovereign debt crisis in Greece, Spain and Portugal, which had sent the global markets into a tizzy last week.
The BSE IT index surged 2.52 per cent to 4972.64. The rally was led by Infosys with a gain of 2.92 per cent at Rs. 2,470.90, Wipro by 2.49 per cent at Rs. 652.45 and TCS by Rs 10.40 at Rs. 734.20. However, realty counters suffered a sharp setback on profit-selling on fears of a hike in interest rate following rising inflation and a better-than-expected GDP growth, which would pressurise RBI to further tighten money supply.
Total trading volume was relatively low at Rs. 4,508.11 crore against Rs. 4,687.14 crore on Monday.
Rupee recovers
Dollar selling by exporters and gains in the domestic equity market helped the rupee recover by 16 paise against the dollar on Tuesday at 46.66. Forex dealers said, the rupee received support from dollar selling by exporters and a rally in domestic equity markets.
In active trading at the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic unit moved in a range of 46.6050 and 46.80 before finishing at 46.65/66.
