The Hindu Business Line : Markets put blasts behind

Stock markets shrugged off the negative sentiment caused by Tuesday's bomb blasts and rallied on the back of better-than-expected first quarter results by IT bellwether Infosys Technologies Ltd.

The benchmark BSE-30 Sensex rose by 315.74 points or 2.97 per cent to 10,930.09, the highest close for the index in the last two months. The National Stock Exchange's (NSE) Nifty ended higher by 79.75 points at 3,195.90.

IT sector leads the march

On Wednesday, the IT pack stole the limelight with the BSE-IT Index becoming the biggest gainer among all indices at 6.27 per cent or 238.04 points to 4,036.16.

"The IT sector is expected to assume a lead role in the markets in the coming days. It is to be seen whether other frontline IT stocks such as Wipro, HCL and Satyam Computers also come up with good results," said Mr Kunj Bansal, Chief Investment Officer of Religare.

Shares of Infosys and TCS ended higher by over 7 per cent, while Wipro and Satyam Computers gained over 4 per cent.

"In addition to the Infosys results, there were also big buying by foreign funds," he said. Foreign funds were net buyers for Rs 275 crore on Wednesday, according to provisional figures available on the NSE Web site.

Mr Sashi Bhushan, Head - Private Client Group of IL&FS Investsmart, said the outstanding position on the derivatives was low and there was no over bought position in the F&O segment. "The lightness of the market is a positive indicator (for the market to go up)," he said. "There was no impact due to the bomb blasts," he added.

With Bank of Japan expected to take a decision on whether to continue the zero-interest rate regime during its two-day meeting from Thursday, dealers said even a 0.25 per cent interest rate may influence a fund outflow from Indian equity markets.

"Global cues will dominate the next couple of trading sessions," said a fund manager with a mutual fund.

On Wednesday, the overall market breadth was slightly in favour of advances at 1,252 against 1,093 declines.

Rupee dips

Meanwhile, the serial bomb explosions in Mumbai did have an impact on the rupee. The currency dipped to 46.24 on dollar buying in thin trade. The domestic currency opened at 46.27/28 and moved in the range of 46.20-46.22 to finally close at 46.24. On Tuesday, the rupee closed at 46.17/18.