Sensex jumps 193 points; Nifty reclaims 7,900-mark as investors cheer nod to bankruptcy bill

Mumbai: Optimism following the passage of the bankruptcy bill in Parliament helped soothe jittery nerves over the revised tax treaty with Mauritius as the benchmark BSE Sensex recovered by 193.20 points to end at 25,790.22 Thursday, driven by banking stocks such as ICICI Bank and SBI.

The broader NSE Nifty too regained the key 7,900-mark.

Trading sentiment was also positive ahead of the release of key macroeconomic data -- industrial production (IIP) for March and consumer price index (CPI) for April.

Banking stocks were in the limelight, largely on the nod to the much-awaited bankruptcy bill by Rajya Sabha. ICICI Bank gained the most among Sensex pack, surging 3.46 percent to Rs 231.85, while SBI gained 1.87 percent to Rs 188.40 and HDFC Bank rose 1.05 percent to Rs 1,149.90.

"The bill aims to provide a single unified law for the timely resolution of insolvency and bankruptcy related cases, which consequently will help creditors recover bad debts faster," said Shreyash Devalkar Fund Manager -Equities, BNP Paribas MF.

This helped markets put behind the scare caused by revised Mauritius tax treaty, he added.

The broader markets too displayed a firm trend as retail investors widened their portfolios with the BSE small-cap index rising 0.93 percent and mid-cap gaining 0.69 percent.

The benchmark BSE Sensex surged 193.20 points or 0.75 percent to settle the session at 25,790.22 on widespread gains after shuttling between 25.827.03 and 25,620.27.

The index had lost 175.51 points yesterday over fears that equity inflows would take a hit after India's move to impose capital gains tax on investment through Mauritius.

The broader NSE Nifty again went past 7,900-mark and touched a high of 7,916.05, before settling 51.55 points or 0.66 percent higher at 7,900.40.

Asian Paints, which reported a 19.87 percent jump in consolidated net profit for the March quarter, rose by 2.13 percent to Rs 926.75.

Regional markets showed a mixed trend with the indices in Japan and Singapore rising by 0.41 percent to 0.46 per cent while those in China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan fell by up to 0.70 percent.

Europe-based stocks reversed early losses on expectations that the Bank of England will keep interest rates on hold. Key indices in France and Germany rose by 0.27 percent and 0.37 percent, respectively, while the UK's FTSE quoted lower by 0.17 percent.

Back home, 21 scrips, out of the 30-share Sensex pack ended higher while nine -- Axis Bank, HUL, M&M, HDFC, Maruti, L&T, Hero MotoCorp, BHEL, Cipla -- fell up to 1.19 percent.

Major gainers were Dr Reddy's (3.65 percent), ICICI Bank (3.46 percent), Asian Paints (2.13 percent), TCS (1.96 percent), SBI (1.87 percent), Tata Motors (1.87 percent), RIL (1.66 percent), Bajaj Auto (1.40 percent), Lupin (1.28 percent) and HDFC Bank (1.05 percent).

Among BSE sectoral and industry indices, consumer durables rose by 1.41 percent followed by IT 1.12 percent, realty 1.12 percent, energy 1.07 percent, teck 1.04 percent, bankex 0.95 percent and finance 0.82 percent. While, capital goods fell 0.04 percent.

The market breadth turned positive as 1,569 stocks ended higher, 1,001 closed lower, while 183 ruled steady.

The total turnover rose to Rs 2,650.92 crore from Rs 2,574.47 crore yesterday.

Meanwhile, Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 362.19 crore yesterday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges