Sensex has a blast

MUMBAI; The bulls are not foxed. Or cowed. Kicking aside all anxiety brought on by the terror attacks, the BSE Sensex blasted off on Wednesday to register a gain of 316 points. Closing at 10,930, it is now just a hop, step, and jump away from 11,000.

All 12 broad-based indices of the BSE and NSE and another 12 sectoral indices reported gains. Unlike on Tuesday, when Indian shares listed in the US declined precipitately, most American depository receipts followed the Sensex’s lead yesterday. Led by Infosys, which announced results that were well beyond expectations, Indian ADRs rode high on Wall Street.

“Mumbai always bounces back. We live in a city that’s always positive,” Nimesh Kampani, JM Morgan Stanley chairman, had told DNA on Tuesday after the blasts.

The stock markets lived up to his expectations on Wednesday, putting bears - and assorted terrorists - in their place. Software stocks were the stars, and the BSE IT index the biggest gainer, rising twice as fast as the Sensex at 6.27 per cent.

A lot of it was driven by foreign money, with foreign institutional investors being net buyers to the tune of Rs276 crore. Quite clearly, the blasts have not rocked investors’ faith in Mumbai or the Sensex. “The world has come to live with events like these, sad as they are,” said Andrew Holland, executive vice-president, DSP Merrill Lynch. “Unless it becomes something regular, it wouldn’t be on any investor’s radar.”