Metals shine as equities rebound

Sensex up 1%; all sectors barring public sector, realty rise

MUMBAI: There was a moderate rise in the equity markets on Friday after the sharp sell-off that had occured on Thursday.

Fears over inflation and rising oil prices following tension between US and Russia over Georgia had acted in concert to cause the equity markets to fall with a decidedly unmelodious thud.

This was corrected to some degree as the markets on Friday played a somewhat more sonorous, with virtually all the sectors rising except for public sector undertakings and realty.

The Sensex ended 157.76 or over 1% up Friday closing at 14,401.49.The Nifty also ended with the same gain percentage-wise when it closed at 4327.45 points. The top gainer sectorally were metals and banks.

The former gained almost 200 points or 1.62% to end at 12,363.93, while the Bankex gained 77.85 or 1.18% to close at 6655.76, according to figures available on the BSE website. Hindalco gained over 4% while Tata Power and Reliance Infra both gained over 2.5%. Auto,oil, capital goods and FMCGs also ended gaining over a percentage.

The realty index ended flat, while public sector undertakings ended a tenth of a percentage down. Satyam and Grasim were the chief losers on the Sensex today as they lost 3.18% and 1.85%.

The Asian markets mostly ended lower today except for the Singapore Strait Times which rose marginally by 0.03%.
European markets closed higher as UK France and German equities all gained close to a percentage point.
Market experts don't seem to see the rise today as a significant upside. There were some apprehensions of inflation going up to 13%.

Since the numbers are close to the consensus the market seems to be following a trend of sideways movement. Naresh Kothari, head of institutional investment sat Edelweiss Securities, says unless commodity prices stabilise and oil hits between the $90-$100mark, the markets may not react significantly.