Sensex ends 147 pts higher; investors' wealth zoom by Rs 4.17 lakh cr in 5 sessions

Stocks continued their upward march for the fifth straight session despite showing signs of fatigue in early noon trade when key share indices slipped into the red for a small period, as investors appeared nervous after the recent bout of a stupendous rally. However, bulls soon recouped their lost ground as the positive mood in global equities ensured the markets didn’t have to encounter further slippages in the remaining period of the trading session. [caption id=“attachment_2457408” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Reuters[/caption] On Tuesday, the 30-share benchmark BSE Sensex ended the session at 26,932.88, up 147.33 points, or 0.6 percent from previous close. Intra-day, the index had breached the crucial 27,000-mark to touch the day’s high of 27,010.27, up 224 points, before turning sideways thereafter. The Sensex has now surged more than 1,300 points in five consecutive trading sessions. Investors’ wealth, too, showed a marked appreciation, swelling by Rs 4.17 lakh crore in the five day period on BSE. The broader 50-stock CNX Nifty closed at 8,152.90, up 33.60 points, or 0.4 percent. Market breadth ended positive with 1,589 stocks advancing against 1,151 scrips declining on BSE. Among other Asian indices, Japan’s Nikkei ended 1 percent higher while Chinese gauges ended mixed with Shanghai Composite rising 0.5 percent and Hang Seng easing 0.1 percent at close. Market experts say the recent rally may wither away soon, as global headwinds such as decelerating Chinese economy, US rate hike concerns and currency volatility may once again come back to haunt investors, leading to the re-emergence of selling pressure. Already, banking stocks today showed the party was beginning to end with BSE Bankex ending 0.2 percent lower after the recent upsurge that started post the higher-than-expected policy rate cut by the RBI last Tuesday. Similarly, IT stocks, too, came under pressure ahead of the start of earnings season next week with BSE IT index ending 1.2 percent lower. Among the IT laggards, shares of Infosys dropped 2.2 percent to Rs 1,154.85, TCS eased 0.6 percent to Rs 2,695.70 and Wipro was down a tad at Rs 600. In the banking space, Axis Bank declined 1 percent to Rs 506.65 and HDFC Bank, too, lost a percent to Rs 1,085.35. Keeping the markets in good stead, shares of metals, oil & gas, consumer durables and select auto rallied sharply. Tata Motors extended gains for the second straight session on strong JLR September sales numbers, ending 5.8 percent higher to Rs 333.50. Similarly, ITC rose 4.2 percent to Rs 342.90, Coal India gained 4 percent to Rs 342.75, Gail jumped 3.2 percent to Rs 307.95, ONGC added 2.8 percent to Rs 237.05, Vedanta gained 1.3 percent to Rs 85.70, Tata Steel was up 1.2 percent to Rs 227.15 and Reliance Industries was up 1.1 percent at Rs 895.90.