Sensex ends 4-session losing streak, gains 104 points on short covering

Domestic equities finally showed some conviction on the penultimate day of the current month’s (July) F&O expiry, snapping a four session fall as recovery in other Asian indices aided sentiment prompting investors to cover short positions in automobile, IT and capital goods shares, said dealers. In a trading session marked by thin volumes, stock markets moved in a narrow range with a mixed bias before a last-hour short covering lifting the Sensex to the day’s high of 27,609.29, up 150 points. [caption id=“attachment_2369880” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] Finally, the 30-share BSE S&P Sensex ended the day’s trade at 27,563.43, up 104.20 points, or 0.4 percent from the previous close. In the last four sessions, the index had plunged 1,046 points on the back of sustained selling pressure triggered by sell-off in Chinese equities amid slowdown concerns. The broader 50-share CNX Nifty closed at 8,375.05, up 38.05 points, or 0.4 percent. Market breadth ended positive with 1,665 stocks advancing against 1,170 declines on the BSE. Elsewhere in Asia, China markets rebounded with the Shanghai Composite index closing up 3.4 percent to end at 3,789.17, after crashing nearly 10 percent in past two sessions. Another major Chinese index the Hang Seng ended 0.5 percent higher at 24,619.45 even as Nikkei closed a tad lower at 20,302.91. Analysts said investors would be looking forward to the outcome of the two-day US Fed FOMC meet scheduled to conclude later in the mid-night, which could probably give some indication on the impending interest rate hike. The broader market was slightly more upbeat with investors lapping up mid and small-cap shares leading to the BSE Mid-cap index ending 0.9 percent higher at 11,071.42 and small-cap index closing 0.8 percent higher at 11,619.02. Among the gainers in the Sensex pack, shares of IT major Infosys led the upsurge, ending 2 percent higher at Rs 1,085.20. Auto firm Maruti rose 1.9 percent to Rs 4,273.95, Lupin gained 1.9 percent to Rs 1,638.75, BHEL rose 1.8 percent to Rs 283.20 and L&T was up 1.7 percent at Rs 1,789.65. Metal firm Vedanta jumped 1.7 percent to Rs 130.60 after the company earlier today reported 131 percent surge in April-June quarter net profit at Rs 866 crore from Rs 376 crore a year ago, while consolidated net sales fell marginally to Rs 16,952 crore. Others such as Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Wipro and HeroMoto Corp were up 1-2 percent. Aviation company Jet Airway saw its shares zoom nearly 19 percent to end at Rs 390.30. According to an Edelweiss Securities report, Jet Airways is likely to post a profit after tax of Rs 34 crore in the first quarter ended June 2015, against a loss of Rs 218 crore in the year ago period. On the other hand, shares of FMCG major ITC ended 2.3 percent lower at Rs 303.95, SBI eased 2.2 percent at Rs 253.70 and Reliance Industries was down 1.4 percent at Rs 995.45. Shares of NTPC, GAIL, Dr Reddy’s and Hindustan Unilever were down 0.6-1.2 percent.