Sensex recovers by 164 points, closes at 12,116.94

Sterlite and Hindustan Zinc were in the forefront of getting investor response on the back of favourable global cues, helping the benchmark Sensex to recover sharply by over 164 points to close at 12,116.94.

The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share barometer moved in the range 12,143.95 and 11,981.13 before ending at 12,116.94, a rise of 164.19 or 1.37 per cent from its previous close.

The 50-issue Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also spurted by 58.85 points or 1.62 per cent to 3,683.90.

Besides the FMCG segment, all other sectoral indices ended in the green with the metal counters taking the lead following firm trends on the London Metal Exchange (LME).

The metal sector index gained the most, rising 8.22 per cent to 8,155.058 as leading copper manufacturer Sterlite Industries was up 13.78 per cent to Rs 517.45 and Hindustan Zinc 14.77 per cent to Rs 506.

Taurus Mutual Fund managing director RK Gupta said, "The markets on Thursday went up mainly on global cues as most of the Asian indices were up. Although markets worldwide have discounted the impact of the Stress Test, the results on Thursday would keep the stocks under pressure on Friday."

Asian indices ended higher on Thursday on better-than-expected US job reports and an assurance from US Treasury secretary that none of the country's biggest banks is insolvent.

Bonanza Portfolio assistant vice-president Avinash Gupta said: "The expected recovery in the global economy influenced the markets. The strengthening of prices of metals and crude oil influenced market sentiment."

The Nikkei ended up 4.55 per cent, the Straits Times 2.87 per cent, the Hang Seng 2.28 per cent, the Kospi 0.55 per cent, the Shanghai Composite 0.19 per cent and the Taiwan Weighted 0.09 per cent.

European markets resumed better with the banking shares taking the lead as the Bank of England and European Central Bank are to decide on interest rates later in the evening.

Foreign institutional investors continued to be net buyers, picking up shares worth Rs 530.92 crore on May 6, as per provisional figures.

In the Sensex pack, Sterlite Industries shot up 13.78 per cent, Hindalco 11.25 per cent, Tata Steel 8.76 per cent, Wipro 5.80 per cent, HDFC 3.86 per cent, Maruti Suzuki 3.72 per cent, SBI 3.27 per cent and Tata Motors 3.05 per cent.

However, M&M declined 2.83 per cent, ACC 2.44 per cent, HUL 1.68 per cent and Grasim 1.47 per cent.

Reflecting the sharp rally in metal shares, the sectoral BSE-Metal index flared up by 619.71 points or 8.22 per cent to end at 7,535.37.

The market breadth was positive as 1,696 counters ended with gains against 828 losers on the BSE.

The trading volume dropped sharply to Rs 4,704.45 crore from Rs 5,850.89 crore on Wednesday. Tata Steel was the most active share with the highest turnover of Rs 222.33 crore, followed by RIL (Rs 210.90 crore), DLF (Rs 207.34 crore), Rel Capital (Rs 182.89 crore) and ICICI Bank (Rs 175.90 crore).