The Hindu Business Line : Markets make strong gains

Contributing to the sentiment was the Prime Minister's statement that more public sector units must list. "That is positive news, though the extent of its impact is arguable," said a broker.

It has been a roller coaster ride for the stock markets this week. They fell on Monday, rose on Tuesday, and fell again on Wednesday. Thursday found them on upswing again.

The benchmark BSE Sensex gained 3.73 per cent, to close at 13049.35. Along the way it hit a low of 12596.86 and a high of 13099.83. NSE's Nifty rose 3.72 per cent, to close at 3761.55.

Volatile times

"If you look at the periods of volatility that the markets have seen in recent months, it is not unusual to see a 4 per cent gain or fall in a day," said Mr Nitin Raheja, Chief Investment Officer of foreign financial services company Dawnay Day.

All the BSE indices gained, with Bankex, BSE Metal and BSE Consumer Goods, reporting the largest gains, at around 4.5 per cent each.

As many as 1748, or over two-third, of the traded stocks on BSE advanced on Thursday, while 776 declined and 57 remained unchanged.

Among individual stocks, Hindustan Lever led the rally, gaining 9.54 per cent during the day.

Cement stocks recovered from their slump on Wednesday, with Gujarat Ambuja and Grasim being among the biggest Sensex stock gainers on Thursday. They rose by 8.4 per cent and 6.21 per cent, respectively.

Other stocks

Pharma stocks Dr Reddy's and Ranbaxy Laboratories gained over 6 per cent each. Engineering companies BHEL and Larsen & Toubro, up 7.95 per cent and 4.59 per cent, were also among the top gainers.

Among the other top gainers were telecommunication companies Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications. There was a lot of short covering during the day by both Indian and overseas investors, said brokers.

"Investors just need to keep their faith," a broker said. "Short-term volatility is due to liquidity issues rather than fundamentals."

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