Global rally boosts Sensex by 917 pts, investors gain `3.5L cr

Rise in manufacturing activity in January too help Sensex, Nifty post rally

The Sensex surged over

917 points on the back of rebound in global stocks, recouping most of the losses suffered in the budget day sell-off.

The Sensex rose 917.07 points or 2.3 per cent to close at at 40,789.38, while NSE Nifty settled at

11,979.65, up 271.75 points, gaining the most in a single day in over four months.

Investors’ notional wealth rose by `3.57 lakh crore

(`3.57 trillion) in two days of market rally as recovery in the market led to a rise in market capitalisation of the BSE-listed firms which climbed

`3,57,044 crore to

`1,56,61,769 crore since Saturday.

Disappointed by a lacklustre Union Budget, the Sensex took a massive plunge on last Saturday to mark its worst session in over a decade as the government failed to meet market expectations.

But the indices gaining for the last two sessions shows invest-ors have shrugged off Budget disappointment and are focussing now on other market moving factors like corporate earnings and macroeconomic data.

Investors cheered the country’s manufacturing sector activity climbing to a near eight-year high in January, helping domestic stocks end higher on Monday — the very first session after Budget.

“Market is finding some sanity after the Budget setback. Hereon the focus will be on corporate results and global trend. With valuations on the higher side, the on-going results reported has been mostly inline with estimates. Manufacturing PMI shows notable rebound providing a breather that economy will stabilize as mentioned in the budget,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

On Tuesday, Titan was the biggest gainer in the

Sensex pack, rallying 7.97 per cent, followed by ITC, HDFC, Bajaj Finance, and Tata Steel. On the other hand, Bajaj Auto and HUL were on the losing side.

All sectoral indices ended with gains with BSE consumer durables, metal, oil and gas, energy realty and finance indices rallying up to 3.52 per cent. Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices advanced up to 1.37 per cent.

“Indian markets witnessed a strong rally on the back of rally in global markets. The Indian markets have wiped off all the losses incurred on the budget day to close almost at the pre-budget level. Investors have shifted their focus back on earnings and are finding solace in healthy margins reported by many companies,” Hemang Kapasi, portfolio manager, equity investment products, Sanctum Wealth Management, said.

Analysts said positive global market also led to the upward momentum as bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul settled with firm gains. Stock exchanges in Europe also opened on a positive note. “With the Budget overhang gone, investors are breathing a sigh of relief and are back to make fresh calls,” Umesh Mehta, Samco Securities said.