Sensex recovers in early trade, gains 304 points

MUMBAI: The stock markets bounced back on Tuesday with the benchmark Sensex recovering over 304 points in early trade, largely on the back of revival of buying by domestic as well as foreign funds, triggered by firming Asian markets.

The BSE-30 share index, Sensex, which had been in the negative zone since the presentation of the general budget, rebounded by 304.77 points at 12,719.81 in the first five minutes of trading. It had lost nearly 1,065 points since February 27.

Market observers said apart from funds buying, heavy short-covering by speculators too gave push to the recovery in stock prices.

Similarly, the Nifty index on the wide-based National Stock Exchange was up by 89.05 points, or 2.2 per cent at 3,665.55.

The markets recovered as funds and general investors turned buyers at prevailing lower levels, accumulating blue-chip stocks.

Major support came in from stocks like Reliance Industries, Reliance Capital, Infosys Technologies, ACC, Gujarat Ambuja Cement, ITC Ltd, ICICI Bank, HDFC Ltd, Tata Motors and SAIL.