Sensex, Nifty sparkle on 'Muhurat Trading' as govt's FDI rocket lit Samvat 2072

Key domestic equity benchmark indices, Sensex & Nifty, marked the beginning of Samvat 2072 on a cracking note, with Sensex edging towards the 26,000-mark during the customary one hour special ‘Muhurat Trading’ session, as traders cheered the government’s FDI-related announcements on Tuesday in 15 major sectors. [caption id=“attachment_2385246” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Reuters[/caption] Besides this, optimism in other global markets, including upbeat European indices and mixed Asia, also offered local investors some head-room to make some token purchases on this shortened auspicious day trading, helping the Sensex touch a high of 25,944.93, up 202 points. The change in mood following a bear onslaught over last two weeks helped the 30-share BSE S&P Sensex snap the five straight session losses and finally close the trade at 25,866.95, up 123.69 points, or 0.5 percent from previous close. The broader 50-stock CNX Nifty ended at 7,825, up 41.65 points, or 0.5 percent. In last five sessions, the Sensex had tumbled 810 points, or 3.2 percent, while in last eleven of the twelve sessions, the index tanked 1,619 points or 6 percent, as jitters ahead of Bihar state poll outcome and shaky world equity markets triggered massive correction since the last week of October. However, with the government putting the poll debacle behind it and immediately getting its act together by announcing FDI norms in 15 major sectors, including mining, defence, civil aviation and broadcasting, the move lifted investors spirits to a major extent, said dealers. Among other others, the government also announced easing of FDI norms for agriculture and mining. Enthusiasm among the investors can be gauged from the fact that market breadth ended upbeat with gainers outnumbering losers by over 3:1. Of the 2,469 stock traded, 1,967 scrips advanced, 413 declined and 89 were unchanged. Among the major gainers in the Sensex pack, shares of Axis Bank rose 2.5 percent to Rs 480.20, Sun Pharma jumped nearly 2 percent to Rs 746.55, L&T gained 1.4 percent to Rs 1,366.50, Tata Steel added 1.3 percent to Rs 220.85 and BHEL was up 1.2 percent at Rs 180.55. Besides frontline stocks, investors were more upbeat on second-rung stocks, with BSE Mid-cap index gaining 1 percent and BSE Small-cap index rising 1.5 percent, thereby outperforming the benchmark indices by a wide margin.