The benchmark Sensex on Wednesday recovered by 48 points to end at 28,386.19 on smart rise in bluechips, including ITC and HDFC, coupled with a spurt in realty shares, led by DLF, after government hiked floor area ratio in Delhi.
Others factors that supported markets were expectations of a cut in interest rates next month and short-covering activity ahead of expiry of monthly derivatives, traders said.
Realty counters were at the forefront after Floor Area Ratio in Delhi in respect of plots of 750-1000 sq mt size were enhanced from the present 150 per cent to 200 per cent while the same has been increased from 120 per cent to 200 per cent for plots of 1000 sq mt and above.
As a result, sectoral S&P BSE Realty index was the top gainer with a rise of 4.03 per cent. Anant Raj, DLF and Unitech shares notched up gains of between 4-10 per cent.
Power, Metal and FMCG counters also attracted buying.
ITC rebounded by over 2 per cent, after dropping 5 per cent on Tuesday on worries over cigarette norms. HDFC, Sesa Sterlite, M&M, GAIL, BHEL, Hero Moto and Hindalco jumped.
Fall in ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel and RIL shares, however, restricted the Sensex’s rise.
The BSE 30-share Sensex moved in a range of 28,470.15 and 28,261.31 before closing at 28,386.19, showing a rise of 48.14 points or 0.17 per cent. On Tuesday, it had slipped 161.49 points or 0.57 per cent.
“Led by the Delhi government’s decision to increase the Delhi city’s floor area ratio by 200 per cent, most realty sector stocks saw huge surge in buying activity,” said Rakesh Goyal, Senior Vice President, Bonanza Portfolio.
The broad-based 50-issue CNX Nifty of the NSE also recovered 12.65 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 8,475.75.
Second-line shares were in the limelight on good buying from retail investors. The BSE-Midcap and BSE-Smallcap indices closed up by 0.62 per cent and 1.12 per cent respectively.
Meanwhile, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs. 1,168.94 crore as per the provisional data.
Most Asian stocks ended higher after Chinese shares extended their rally as insurers led gains. Key benchmark indices in China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan firmed up by 0.03 per cent to 1.43 per cent while Japan’s Nikkei eased by 0.14 per cent.
European stock markets were trading higher as commodity producer and financial companies rose. Key indices in France, Germany and UK moved up by 0.10 per cent to 0.56 per cent.
Jignesh Chaudhary, Head of Research, Veracity Broking Services said: “Local equities opened in negative as investors turn cautious ahead of the GDP data which is due later this week and RBI monetary policy scheduled next week. However, local indices recovered due to realty stocks”.
Sixteen scrips out of the 30-share Sensex pack ended higher while the rest 14 finished lower.
Major gainers included Gail India (2.75 per cent), Sesa Sterlite (2.34 per cent), BHEL (2.26 per cent), Hindalco (2.21 per cent) and, ITC (2.14 per cent).
Hero Motocorp (1.30 per cent), M&M (1.18 per cent), HDFC (1.13 per cent), NTPC (1.04 per cent) and Cipla (0.68 per cent) also notched up good gains.
However, Bharti Airtel fell by 2.43 per cent, ICICI bank 1.45 per cent and Bajaj Auto 0.90 per cent among laggards.
Among the S&P BSE sectoral indices, Realty rose by 4.03 per cent, followed by Power 1.13 per cent, Metal 1.08 per cent and FMCG 1.07 per cent.
