MUMBAI: The Sensex regained the crucial 16,000-point level on the Bombay Stock Exchange today, surging on fresh buying triggered by a firming trend in other Asian markets.
The 30-share BSE index, which has lost nearly 650 points over the past three sessions, surged by 494.88 points, to 16343.71 at 2:10 PM.
The wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index was also up by 153.95 points, at 4901.75.
BSE IT index up 4.5% led by gains in Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (up 6%), HCL Technologies Ltd (up 6.2%), Infosys Ltd (up 4.1%) and Patni Computer Systems (up 6%)
BSE Banking index up 3.9% led by gains in Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd (up 6.5%), Yes Bank (up 5%), ICICI Bank Ltd (up 4.5%), SBI (up 2.7%) and Axis Bank(up 4.5%).
BSE Realty index up 4.2% led by gains in Anant Raj Industries Ltd (up 6%), Unitech Ltd (up 5.1%), Indisbulls Real Estate (up 5.5%), DLF (up 4.2%) and DB Realty (up 3.2%).
Brokers attributed the widespread recovery in stock prices to a firming trend in other Asian markets on the back of gains recorded in the US market on Friday after Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke's prediction of long-term economic growth for the US.
"The trend deciding level for the day is 15,957 on the Sensex and 4,780 levels on the Nifty. If NIFTY trades above this level during the first half-an-hour of trade then we may witness a further rally up to 16,148 - 16,448 / 4,840 - 4,932 levels", according to a report by Angel Broking.
"However, if NIFTY trades below 15,957 / 4,780 levels for the first half-an-hour of trade then it may correct up to 15,657 - 15,466 / 4,688 - 4,628 levels", added the report.
"It is possible that Nifty could trade at levels of 4,700 on the downside and 4,900 on the upside in near-term. For day traders it represents an opportunity on the long side because we could go up to 4,850-4,900 on Nifty", added Sudarshan Sukhani of Technical Trends.
"When the trend reverses on the downside the short selling opportunities for short-term traders will come again and that is the correct trade because the trend is clearly down", said Sudarshan Sukhani.
Gold snapped a three-day gaining streak following similar trend globally. A strong rupee also made the dollar-quoted yellow metal cheaper, triggering a slight pick-up in physical demand ahead of key festivals.
At 1:14 p.m., the most-active gold for October delivery on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) was trading 1.95 percent lower at 27,099 rupees per 10 grams Global spot gold fell more than 1 percent, reversing a rally of 3.2 percent in the previous session, as investors, faced with uncertainties over the US Federal Reserve's stimulus plans, decided to take some money off the table.
Meanwhile, Global stocks jumped almost one per cent while the dollar struggled after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke left the door open for further action to stimulate the US economy and fight unemployment.
World shares rose 0.9 per cent, with Asian markets tracking a strong bounce for Wall Street, which closed up 1 percent following Bernanke's keynote speech in Jackson Hole on Friday.
IMF chief Christine Lagarde also added to market pressure for policymakers to do more to prop up a flagging global economy at the meeting of central bankers, telling officials they must "act now" to save the recovery.
European stocks also gained, up 0.7 percent, and U.S. stock futures rose around 1 percent after Hurricane Irene, downgraded to tropical storm status, spared the nation's financial centre the worst.
