Sensex snaps three-day fall; ends 91 points up at over 20k

The Sensex, after losing 362 points in last three days, remained lower through out the session but rebound in last 30-minute trade to close with a gain of 91.30 points to reach 20,032.34.

The benchmark shuttled between 20,080.33 and 19,768.96 during the day. The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also rose by 30 points to 6,017.70, after moving between 6,032.65 and 5,937.10 points.

The fag-end buying picked up after the Reserve Bank of India announced special measures to increase money supply in the financial system, raising hopes of greater liquidity in the equity markets.

Buying was confined largely to the banking sector after the biggest private lender ICICI Bank soared to the highest level since February 2008 as its second-quarter consolidated profit rose 22 per cent.

The stocks of ITC Ltd, the biggest consumer goods maker and index-related, advanced the most in a week after its quarterly profit rose 23 per cent.

Higher earnings by leading companies boosted the market sentiment which encouraged the global funds net buyers in Indian equities for a 41st day on Oct. 27, the longest streak on record.

In the 30-BSE index components, nine gained and 20 decline, while ACC remained unchanged.

The heaviest-weight Reliance Industries rose by Rs 12.75 to Rs 1,095.80; ICICI Bank by Rs 71.35 to Rs 1,161.65, and ITC ltd by Rs 3.90 to Rs 171.15. The three carry nearly 27 per cent weightage on the benchmark.

The banking sector index gained the most by adding 1.52 per cent to 14,016.21 followed by FMCG index by 1.30 per cent to 3,605.10. The oil and gas index also rose by 0.69 per cent to 10,948.82.