Sensex, Nifty Stage Strong Rebound On Broad-Based Buying Interest

The Indian equity benchmarks staged a strong rebound on Tuesday after witnessing their worst day in 11 months in the previous session on the back of a short-covering rally after a report surfaced which said that some Russian forces were returning to bases from the Ukraine border. The Sensex rose as much as 1,806 points and Nifty 50 index reclaimed its important psychological level of 17,350.

The Sensex advanced 1,736 points or 3.08 per cent to close at 58,142 and Nifty 50 index climbed 510 points or 3.03 per cent to settle at 17,352.

Russia said Tuesday it was pulling back some of its forces near the Ukrainian border to their bases, in what would be the first major step towards de-escalation in weeks of crisis with the West.

The move came amid an intense diplomatic effort to avert a feared Russian invasion of its pro-Western neighbour and after Moscow amassed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine's borders, news agency AFP reported.

"Markets rebounded sharply after yesterday’s sell-off and managed to gain nearly 3%. After the initial uptick, the benchmark inched lower in the first hour but the news that some of the Russian troops are being pulled out from the Ukraine border lifted sentiment as the day progressed. Markets have been witnessing a roller-coaster ride and we expect the same to continue in near future. In absence of any major domestic event, updates related to Russia-Ukraine tension and its impact on global markets will be on the radar. We suggest limiting leveraged positions and waiting for the markets to stabilise," said Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking.

Back home, buying was visible across the board as all the 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended higher led by the Nifty Auto index's 4 per cent jump. Nifty Financial Services, Bank, IT, Media, PSU Bank, Private Bank and Realty sector gauges also rose between 3-4 per cent.

Mid- and small-cap shares also witnessed strong buying interest as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 2.86 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index gained 2.51 per cent.

Tata Motors was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 6.69 per cent to close at Rs 503. Bajaj Finance, Eicher Motors, Shree Cements, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Finserv, State Bank of India, Wipro, Titan, Larsen & Toubro and Grasim also rose between 4-5.5 per cent.

On the flipside, Cipla and ONGC were among the notable losers.

The overall market breadth was extremely positive as 2.052 shares ended higher while 1,320 closed lower on the BSE.