Sensex up 88 points; Bharti Airtel, ONGC surge

The BSE benchmark Sensex on Tuesday closed over 88 points higher, led by bluechips Bharti Airtel and ONGC as foreign funds resumed buying following a firm trend in global markets.

In a highly volatile trade, the 30-share index resumed the day higher at 18,613.84 but tumbled down in intra-day but again gained and settled 88.26 points, or 0.48% higher at 18,629.15. Sensex had slumped to an over two-month low of 18,540.89 yesterday.

Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose by 18.85 points, or 0.34%, to close at 5,609.10. Also, SX40 index, the flagship index of MCX-SX, closed 84.79 points, or 0.77% higher at 11,097.94.

Brokers said the recent fall in share prices attracted valued buying in some fundamentally stong stocks. Also, a better trend in overseas markets further influenced the uptrend, they added.

The Asian market firmed up and European stocks opened higher as the People's Bank of China allayed concern over a cash crunch and investors awaited US home sale data.

Out of the 30 BSE index components, 16 shares rose led by Bharti Airtel, ONGC and Mahindra & Mahindra gaining 4.34%, 3.80% and 3.18%, respectively.

Sectorally, the oil and gas sector rose by 1.53% to 8,222.62 followed by capital goods sector settled 0.68% higher at 8,772.03.