Sensex ends at 3-week high; up 149 points on buying in blue chips

Erasing early losses, the BSE Sensex gained 149 points to reach 3-week high of 16,862.81 today as investors bought blue chips such as RIL and Infosys at low levels amid a smart rebound in European markets.

Following weak Asian markets, the Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share barometer opened weak and dropped to a low of 16,488.30, down 225 points.

However, higher openings in European markets and buying at lower levels in heavyweights such as Reliance Industries Ltd and Infosys helped Sensex bounce back to over 3-week high of 16,862.81, up of 149.48 points or 0.89 per cent. Yesterday, it had fallen by over 108 points or 0.64 per cent.

RIL and infosys, which carry over 20 per cent weight in the Sensex, gained 4.05 per cent and 1.75 per cent. RIL alone added more than 65 points to the gain.

Other key stocks such as M&M, L&T, ICICI Bank, ONGC, BHEL, HDFC and HDFC Banks made moderate to good gains.

The broader NSE 50-issue Nifty also recouped 47.10 points or 0.94 per cent to 5,064.30.

European markets were firm in afternoon trade. UK's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX 30 and France's CAC 40 indices were up between 0.75 per cent and 1.5 per cent.

"The news of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) to set a floor price for the euro/swiss franc exchange rate to control the rising franc, boosted European stocks, which ultimately helped to change the track in the oversold domestic markets," said CNI Research CMD Kishor P Ostwal.