NEW DELHI: Domestic equity benchmarks settled in the positive terrain for the first time in six sessions on Tuesday, on gains led by bank, financial, pharma, auto and FMCG heavyweights.
Emerging from the worst losing streak of 2018, the market started building on the gains of the late afternoon session, as sentiment got a boost from LIC's comment that it wont let ILFS collapse.
LIC, which holds over 25 per cent stake in the firm, said all options are open and assured that it would take all possible steps to avoid the contagion spreading to the market.
ET Now quoted LIC chairman VK Sharma as saying it would ensure that ILFS does not collapse.
He did not rule out raising stake in the ailing ILFS.Following this, bouts of bargain hunting and value buying emerged in most sectors, lifting Sensex some 400 points to its intraday high of 36,705.
Eventually, the 30-share pack settled 347 points, or 0.96 per cent, up at 36,652, with 20 stocks ending in the green.
The Nifty50 finished 100 points, or 0.91 per cent, higher at 11,067, with 35 stocks advancing and 15 stocks declining.Midcaps also clocked gains, with the index closing 0.36 per cent higher, but BSE Smallcap index suffered a loss of 0.74 per cent.Lets take a look at highlights of todays sessionWho underpinned Sensex riseHDFC twins, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys, Axis Bank and Hindustan Unilever contributed the most to the rally in Sensex.
Tata Consultancy Services, PowerGrid, YES Bank, Coal India and Reliance Industries were among the non-performers.
Axis Bank (up 2.96 per cent), HDFC (up 2.95 per cent) and Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 2.88 per cent) emerged as the top gainers, while PowerGrid (down 3.07 per cent), YES Bank (down 2.83 per cent) and Coal India (down 1.94 per cent) were among the top losers.
ILFS group stocks revivedLICs comment that it would not let ILFS collapse was not less than manna from heaven for ILFS group stocks.
Shares of ILFS Engineering and Construction Company jumped 12.02 per cent even as ILFS Transportation Networks gained 5.74 per cent.
ILFS Investment Managers (down 0.13 per cent) settled flat.
NBFC stocks remained mixedGCM Capital Advisors (up 19.23 per cent), Weizmann Forex (up 9.64 per cent), Monarch Networth Capital (up 6.98 per cent), Wall Street Finance (up 6.43 per cent) and MM Financial (up 6.06 per cent) pocketed decent gains.
However, Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) (down 23.49 per cent), Amrapali Capital and Finance Services (down 20 per cent), Stellar Capital Services (down 20 per cent), SKP Securities (down 14.20 per cent) and IFCI (down 11.27 per cent) plunged.
Sugar stocks jumpedSugar stocks jumped up to 20 per cent on Tuesday after an ETNow report suggested the government may allow export of 50 lakh tonnes of sugar for 2018-19.
Shares of KCP Sugar Industries (up 19.95 per cent), Thiru Arooran Sugars (up 19.92 per cent), Avadh Sugar Energy (up 9.99 per cent), Rajshree Sugars Chemicals (up 9.98 per cent), Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar (up 9.90 per cent), Simbhaoli Sugars (up 9.87 per cent), Uttam Sugar Mills (up 9.81 per cent), Dhampur Sugar Mills (up 9.72 per cent), Magadh Sugar Energy (up 9.37 per cent) and Dalmia Bharat Sugar Industries (up 8.79 per cent) surged in that order.
Over 385 stocks at 52-week lowsAs many as 386 stocks, including Eicher Motors, Indiabulls Real Estate, Vodafone Idea, Jet Airways (India) and InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo), it 52-week lows on NSE in Tuesdays session.
However, HCL Technologies, Monnet Ispat Energy, Gangotri Textiles, Electrosteel Steels, Prakash Steelage and Spacenet Enterprises India featured among 22 stocks that touched 52-week highs on NSE.RSI shows nearly 70 stocks oversoldMomentum oscillator Relative Strength Index (RSI) showed 69 stocks, including DHFL, YES Bank, JP Associates, Unitech, Jet Airways, Escorts and ILFS Investment Managers, as oversold on NSE.
However, two stocks - Magadh Sugar Energy and Jai Balaji Industries - appeared as overbought stocks on RSI chart.
Spurt in open interestPage Industries, with a jump of 70.52 per cent, witnessed the biggest spurt in open interest on NSE, followed by Concor (51.49 per cent), Shree Cement (50.75 per cent), Bharat Financial Inclusion (46.48 per cent) and PowerGrid (41.20 per cent)