The Hindu Business Line : Sensex rises 893 pts, highest single-day gain

Mumbai, Nov. 14 Positive global cues sent stocks soaring on Wednesday, with the BSE Sensex registering its highest single-day gain of 893.58 points or 4.69 per cent, closing at 19,929.06.

The S&P CNX Nifty gained 4.26 per cent, closing at 5,937.90.

“The extent of gain was clearly a surprise after six days of decline, though the rise itself was expected, the market having turned yesterday with a 350-point gain,” said Mr Raamdeo Agrawal, Managing Director, Motilal Oswal Securities Ltd.

The better-than-expected results of Wal-Mart sparked off a rise in the US markets, which was quickly echoed across markets worldwide; and the comment of the US Treasury Secretary, Mr Henry Paulson, on the dollar lent some support to the sentiment, he said.

Indications that the Left and Congress parties were nearing a resolution on the Indo-US nuclear deal added to the positive sentiment.

The rally was led by the banking and oil & gas sectors, the BSE Bankex gaining 6.53 per cent, and O&G 6.40 per cent. The top bluechip gainers were HDFC Bank, ICICI, RIL and Hindalco.

News that the government is considering a rights issue for SBI gave a boost to public sector banking stocks, while positive news on the US and dollar fronts got even IT stocks joining the rally. Wipro gained 6.84 per cent; Satyam 4.92 per cent, and Infosys 4.84 per cent.

FIIs were provisionally net buyers for Rs 163.02 crore and domestic institutions net buyers for Rs 567.04 crore. The market breadth was positive with 71 per cent of the BSE stocks advancing.