Stock market recovers by 346 pts on global surge

MUMBAI: Absorbing corporate behemoth RIL's announcement of lower than expected results, the stock market on Thursday put up a spectacular show, rising by a whopping 346 points on the back of a strong surge in global markets.

RIL too was one of the prominent gainers even though the company's first quarter results released this morning, fell short of market expectations.

Snapping the five-day losing streak in which it lost 923 points or 8.44 per cent, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) benchmark 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) recouped by 345.60 points.

The Sensex opened firm at 10,189.67 and gradually moved upwards to the intra-day high of 10,409.58 before ending the day at 10,352.94, a net rise of 345.60 points or 3.45 per cent over Wednesday's close.

 The National Stock Exchange's (NSE) S&P CNX Nifty too recovered by a huge 90.30 points or 3.08 per cent to 3,023.05 from the previous close of 2,932.75.

The primary trigger for the rise was a world-wide strong equity rally prompted by comments by the Federal Reserve that the interest-rate tightening cycle may be coming to an end.

 Indices on Wall Street ended sharply up last night while Asian markets ruled strong during the day.

In Asian markets, the Nikkei ended up by 446.58 points, the Hang Seng by 375.08 points, the Singapore ST by 41.75 points and the Kospi by 39.65 points.

Operators were seen heavily covering short positions even as Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained negative, market players said, adding: "FIIs were net sellers for the past four days".