Mumbai: A sudden spurt in buying at the fag end of the trading lifted markets higher on Thursday as the Sensex rebounded over 155 points to end at almost two-week high of 26,366 as December derivatives contracts expired amid recovery in the rupee.

The broader NSE Nifty,too, regained the key 8,100-mark. The rupee strengthened by 18 paise against the dollar at 68.06 (intra-day), which helped sentiment improve. Marked by volatility, the rally was supported by gains, mainly in consumer durables, oil and gas, metal, auto, power, IT and PSU stocks, which turned attractive at current levels after recent losses.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday filed draft papers with market regulator SEBI for its much-awaited IPO. The IPO is expected to be one of the biggest in recent times, with an estimated size of over Rs, 10,000 crore.

The initial public offer will see existing shareholders offloading 20-25 per cent shares to the public through the OFS route.

The Sensex wiped off all its gains on Wednesday to end in the red with a minuscule fall at 26,211 as cautious investors took profit at higher levels ahead of the monthly derivatives expiry amid a mixed trend overseas. Besides, the rupee depreciated 18 paise intra-day against the dollar, to 68.24, which had a negative impact too. But volumes were thin during the session as most foreign investors are away on a vacation in a year-end holiday season and other participants chose not to widen their bets.

The benchmark BSE Sensex firmed up further by 117 points in late morning trade on sustained buying in consumer durables, healthcare, IT, and energy stocks.

The Sensex opened higher at 25,815.43 and hovered in a range of 25,954.81 points to 25,803.19 points in morning trade. At 1145 hrs, the 30-share barometer was higher by 117 points, or 0.46%, at 25,924.80 points with 24 of the index constituents trading in the green.

The benchmark BSE Sensex dropped by 248 points in early trade on Monday due to profit booking by investors amid weak Asian cues.

Brokers said Prime Minister Narendra Modi favouring increasing tax contribution from various market participants in a “fair, efficient and transparent way”, too triggered selling in early trade.

MUMBAI: The BSE benchmark Sensex marked biggest loss not seen since five weeks, dropping 448.86 points to finish at 26,040.70, while the broader Nifty dipped below the psychological 8,000-level.

Bearishness tagged the trading momentum from day-one of the week, borne by cascading effect of demonitization, it was further restricted by mute sentiment across the globe due to long Christmas and New Year holidays.

Mumbai: Breaking a seven-day losing pattern, the Sensex on Friday reclaimed the key 26,000-mark by recovering 61 points, helped by gains in pharma, auto and capital goods.

For the week, the Sensex lost 448.86 points, or 1.69%, while the broader NSE Nifty dropped 153.70 points, or 1.88%. This is their biggest weekly in five, which is since the week ended 18 November. Domestic investors backed up and covering-up of short positions gave equities a push too.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) will introduce new interest rate futures (IRF) contracts from December 30 on six-year government bonds maturing in 2022.

The IRF contract is based on 6.84% central government security maturing on December 19, 2022, will be made available for trading from December 30, this year, NSE said in a circular. An IRF contract is an agreement to buy or sell a debt instrument at a specified future date at a pre-determined price.

Stock markets upheld their negative tone for the seventh consecutive session and shed nearly a percent on Thursday. Feeble cues from Asian markets were weighing on sentiments in early trade, which further deteriorated with a slide in select index majors as the day progressed.

Besides, participants were maintaining cautious approach ahead of the beginning of the two-day GST Council meet. Most sectoral indices ended lower in line with benchmark, wherein metal and PSU banks lost the maximum. The Nifty eventually closed with a cut of a percent at 7979.

The Nifty settled marginally lower in a dull trading session on Wednesday, in the absence of any major cue. After a flat start, it hovered in a narrow range till late, but a slide in the last one hour of the trade pushed it into negative territory. The Nifty finally closed 21.10 points lower at 8,061. Most sectoral indices also followed suit and closed on a flat note.

Market experts said that the boredom continues in the market for the fifth consecutive session as the participation from strong hands seems missing towards the fag end of the calendar year.

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