In choppy trade, the BSE benchmark Sensex ended 167 points up on value buying ahead of RBI policy review that is widely expected to lead to further hike in interest rates, amid a firm trend in global markets.
Sensex, which gained 242 points on Wednesday, ended 166.94 points up, at 16,876.54. It moved between 16,922.40 and 16,545.47 points during the session.
Similarly, the broad-based NSE index Nifty gained 63.15 points to 5,075.70, after touching the day’s low of 4,967.45.
Brokers said major market players purchased fundamentally strong stocks at lower levels following the recent sell-off.
They said a firm Asian trend and high openings in Europe supported the markets.
They added that a slight easing of food inflation to 9.47 per cent for the week ended September 3, from 9.55 per cent in the previous week may prompt a moderate hike in interest rate by the Reserve Bank of India at its policy meeting on Friday.
However, overall inflation is still close to double-digit at 9.78 per cent for August, still a worry for investors.
In the past two reviews, RBI raised lending (repo) rates by a hawkish 50 basis points to tame inflation.
Thursday’s rally was supported by IT, realty, tech and banking sectors. In 30-share BSE index, 20 counters closed higher while ten ended with losses.
The two market heavyweights — RIL and Infosys, with 20 per cent weight on Sensex, closed higher. RIL rose 1.19 per cent and Infosys by 2.23 per cent. SBI rose 3.64 per cent, while Tata Motors was up 5.04 per cent.
The recently beaten realty sector gained the most by adding 3.25 per cent to 1,779.38, followed by IT index by 2.10 per cent to 5,145.76. Banking index rose by 1.82 per cent to 11,062.05.
