Markets rebound after 8-day slump

MUMBAI: Market benchmarks rebounded sharply on Wednesday after an eight-session losing streak, with Sensex jumping 715 points, propelled by bargain hunting in bank and financial stocks after the RBI left interest rates unchanged and revised upward its growth estimates to 6.8 per cent for the current fiscal.

Buoyancy across global equities and easing crude oil prices boosted the risk appetite of local investors, triggering value buying across the sectors, traders said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 715.69 points or 0.89 per cent to settle at 80,983.31. During the day, it surged 800.81 points or 0.99 per cent to 81,068.43. As many as 2,797 stocks advanced while 1,360 declined and 134 remained unchanged on the BSE.

The 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 225.20 points or 0.92 per cent to 24,836.30.

From the Sensex firms, Tata Motors jumped the most by 5.54 per cent, followed by Kotak Mahindra Bank, Trent, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank, and ICICI Bank. However, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India, UltraTech Cement and Tata Steel were among the laggards.

The BSE smallcap gauge jumped 1.16 per cent, while midcap index climbed 0.91 per cent. All sectoral indices ended higher. Bankex climbed 1.44 per cent, telecommunication (1.26 per cent), financial services (1.22 per cent), healthcare (1.13 per cent), realty (1.11 per cent), utilities (1.03 per cent) and consumer discretionary (0.94 per cent).