Bargain hunting snaps 3-day losing streak

Covering Up Shorts

- BSE Sensex closed 187.39 pts higher at 57,808.58

- NSE Nifty climbed 53.15 pts to 17,266.75

- Tata Steel topped Sensex gainers' chart

- Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, RIL, Titan, Asian Paints and Axis Bank among gainers

- PowerGrid, TCS, UltraTech Cement, Tech - Mahindra, Kotak Bank, L&T and HDFC twins in the red

Mumbai: Snapping their three-day losing run, market benchmarks ticked higher after a see-saw session on Tuesday on fag-end buying in energy, metal and finance counters amid a firm trend in global markets. Covering-up of short positions by bears also supported the late recovery in stocks, traders said.

After swinging between gains and losses, the 30-share BSE Sensex finally closed 187.39 points or 0.33 per cent higher at 57,808.58 points. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty climbed 53.15 points or 0.31 per cent to 17,266.75 points.

S Ranganathan, head (research) at LKP Securities, said: "As policymakers face one of the fastest pace of price increases in the developed markets, global stock markets are facing a challenge in pricing the likely actions by central bankers. Back home, the Nifty opened extremely weak and drifted closer to 17K levels on geopolitical worries and soaring oil prices with passive emerging market funds booking profits. As bond yields price in ahead of the RBI policy, supply of paper ahead of a mega primary market offering kept investors circumspect though indices managed to recover substantial lost ground to end in the green."

"Indian equities were highly volatile on Tuesday, swaying between gains and losses, while managing to close on a positive note. Selling pressure from FIIs was countered by bargain hunting by domestic investors. European shares advanced over ECB President's comments stating that there are lower chances of a measurable tightening of monetary policy, which helped in comforting global investors," said Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services.