Sensex recovers 864 points at closing

MUMBAI: The stock markets on Wednesday snapped a seven day losing streak and added 864 points, the third biggest gain in a single day, thanks to a surprise rate cut by the US Federal Reserve.

The BSE barometer had lost 4,097.51 points or 19.67 per cent, in the last seven days.

The trigger hungry markets across the globe stabilized after the Federal Reserve announced an emergency inter-meeting rate cut of 75 basis points yesterday and gave indications that it will lower rates further.

The dramatic turnaround came even as investors worldwide appeared to doubt the efficacy of the measures, including the one announced by US President George W Bush to stimulate the economy with nearly USD 150 billion tax cuts.

The bellwether Sensex moved widely between 17,997.11 and 16,951.03 before ending the day at 17,594.07, a net rise of 864.13 points or 5.17 per cent from last close of 16,729.94.

The broader S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange recorded highest ever point-wise rise of 304.10 points or 6.21 per cent to close at 5,203.40 from last close of 4,899.30.

Investors have, however, still not recovered from the mayhem on the bourses since Monday that saw a record 2284-point (12 per cent) fall in the BSE 30-share index.

They were concerned about heavy outflows in the last few days.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) pulled out over Rs 12,500 crore in five days between January 16 and 22. But, they bought shares worth Rs 7,670 crore in the Futures and Options on Tuesday.