Breaking a seven-day-long losing streak, key Indian equity indices -- the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty50 -- on Thursday closed in the green on the back of positive European markets and bargain hunting.Although volatility was induced in the markets intra-day on September derivatives expiry as investors booked profits, short covering in banks, automobile and healthcare stocks aided the key indices to pare losses and close on a higher note.The wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) rose by 33.20 points or 0.34 per cent to close at 9,768.95 points.The 30-scrip Sensitive Index of the BSE, which lost around 1,263.95 points in the previous seven sessions, closed higher by 122.67 points, or 0.39 per cent, at 31,282.48 points.The BSE market breadth was bullish -- with 1,531 advances and 987 declines."Markets ended with modest gains on Thursday after bouncing back from a low of 9,688. Today's gains came after seven consecutive sessions of losses for the Nifty," Deepak Jasani, Head - Retail Research, HDFC Securities told IANS."It was also the expiry day of the September derivative series.
Bargain hunting and positive European markets supported the Indian indices," added Jasani.On the currency front, the rupee strengthened by 21 paise to close at 65.50-51 against the US dollar from its previous close at 65.71-72.In terms of investments, provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold scrips worth Rs 5,328.46 crore while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased stocks worth Rs 5,196.60 crore."The Sensex rose over 100 points while the Nifty regained the 9,750 mark after a tepid start on Thursday as pharma, FMCG and banking stocks witnessed buying. However, volatility was visible due to expiry of future and options contracts of September series," said Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls."Buying was also visible due to off-loading of short positions future and options contracts, traders say.
Mid-cap and small-cap shares, which were among the worst hit in recent selloff, outperformed benchmark indices," Desai told IANS.The BSE mid-cap index rose by 0.77 per cent, while the BSE small-cap index by 0.90 per cent.Sector-wise, the S&P BSE banking index surged by 206.65 points, automobile index by 108.94 points, and healthcare index by 92.31 points.On the other hand, the S&P BSE consumer durables index fell by 58.14 points, capital goods index by 53.89 points, and energy index by 19.89 points.Major Sensex gainers on Thursday were: Dr. Reddy's Lab, up 2.62 per cent at Rs 2,367.85; Kotak Bank, up 2.43 per cent at Rs 1,004; Coal India, up 2.32 per cent at Rs 267; Maruti Suzuki, up 2.11 per cent at Rs 7,897.15; and Cipla, up 2.05 per cent at Rs 581.50.Major Sensex losers were: Asian Paints, down 2.73 per cent at Rs 1,129.25; Reliance Industries, down 1.48 per cent at Rs 786.75; Wipro, down 0.95 per cent at Rs 285.85; Bharti Airtel, down 0.77 per cent at Rs 382.40; and Tata Motors, down 0.69 per cent at Rs 401.10.