The Hindu : Business : Sensex gains on global market recovery

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Thursday, Feb 26, 2009
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Sensex gains on global market recovery

Snaps a two-day losing streak with a gain of 80 points

MUMBAI: Although the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex pared its early smart gains, a rally in auto and IT counters helped it snap a two-day losing streak with a gain of over 80 points on the back of recovery in global markets and the stimulus package announced by the government.

The BSE 30-share bellwether index touched a high of 8995.04 in mid-afternoon trading but fell back to settle at 8902.56, still showing a rise of 80.50 points over the previous close.

The 50-share Nifty of the National Stock Exchange recovered by 28.60 points to 2762.50. Asian indices closed firm with a rise of 0.15-2.65 per cent while European markets resumed firm due to smart rise on Wall Street on Tuesday chiefly due to the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman’s statement against the nationalisation of banks.

Market players on the BSE attributed the late fall in the Sensex to profit-selling by operators ahead of the expiry of derivatives contract on Thursday.

According to reports, the rollover of Nifty positions to the next month stood at 54 per cent .

Downgrading the country’s long-term sovereign credit rating outlook by the international rating agency Standard & Poor’s also partly compelled operators to book profits at higher levels.

Rupee continues to slide

The rupee ended lower against the dollar at 49.94/95 on Wednesday against 49.88 on Tuesday. The rupee moved in a range of 49.72 and 49.76 a dollar intra-day.

There was some dollar buying in late trading as the U.S. unit strengthened against other currencies overseas. The late fall in the rupee was also due to downgrading of the outlook on the country’s long-term sovereign credit to negative from stable by Standard & Poor’s. — PTI

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