Sensex snaps 5-day fall, recovers 41 points on value buying

Snapping its five-day falling trend, the BSE benchmark index Sensex today recovered over 41 points helped by gains in bluechips like RIL, ITC and Larsen & Toubro on value buying by funds and retail investors. After a lower start, the 30-share index bounced back to touch intra-day high of 22,592.03 before settling at 22,445.12, a moderate rise of 41.23 points, or 0.18 %. The index touched the session's low of 22,354.45.

The gauge had lost 472.65 points in the past five sessions. Similarly, the broad-based Nifty of the National Stock Exchange ended 4.55 points, or 0.07 % higher at 6,699.35. It touched a high of 6,741.05 and a low of 6,680.45.

"The market has become volatile as participants prefer to book profits at every rise," said Manoj Choraria, a Delhi-based broker. Reliance Industries surged by 1.82 %, ONGC by 1.93 % and ITC Ltd by 1.22 %. These three carry the most weightage in the Sensex. Larsen and Toubro continued its rising streak on funds buying and gathered another 1.62 %. Of the 30 Sensex scrips, 17 rose while 13 ended lower.

Banking counters were back in demand after they retreated recently on profit-booking, while oil and gas sector stocks rebounded on emergence of buying at prevailing levels. The oil and gas sector index gained the most by surging 1.53 % to 9,697.33 followed by metal index by 1.21 % to 9,959.13. Capital goods index rose by 0.91 % to 12,011.27, while Banking index gained 0.40 % to 14,749.12.