Pullback rally continues for 2nd session

Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex recovered its early losses to close higher by 694 points on Tuesday on late buying in banking, steel and oil & gas shares amid firm trends in global equities ahead of the US presidential elections.

Bouncing back from Monday’s sharp fall, the BSE Sensex jumped 694.39 points or 0.88 per cent to settle at 79,476.63. During the day, it soared 740.89 points or 0.94 per cent to 79,523.13. The NSE Nifty climbed 217.95 points or 0.91 per cent to settle at 24,213.30 as 39 of its constituents advanced and 11 declined. Stock markets opened on a weak note and traded in a range with a negative bias in the first half as investors turned cautious ahead of the US presidential elections. Sensex hit a low of 78,296.70 while Nifty touched 23,842.75. Value buying in the afternoon session helped indices recover losses and closed in the green.

“Markets witnessed a remarkable turnaround towards the closing hours as value buying in banking stocks along with gains in metals and oil & gas stocks aided broad market recovery. Optimism across Asian and European indices ahead of the US election outcome boosted local traders' confidence, although medium-term outlook still looks hazy due to scepticism over further rate cut by the Fed and subdued corporate earnings,” Prashanth Tapse, senior V-P (research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

The BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.48 per cent and smallcap index went up by 0.41 per cent. A total of 2,468 stocks advanced while 1,478 declined and 112 remained unchanged. “The domestic market experienced a sharp recovery, reclaiming most of the previous day's losses amid uncertainty surrounding the likely downgrade in Q2 GDP forecast and closely contested U.S. presidential election.”