Renewed buying support halts 3-day fall

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices bounced back on Tuesday after three days of fall amid recovery in global markets and buying in HDFC Bank post its quarterly earnings. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 261.16 points or 0.39 per cent to settle at 66,428.09. During the day, it jumped 392.89 points or 0.59 per cent to 66,559.82. The Nifty gained 79.75 points or 0.40 per cent to 19,811.50 points.

“The market’s gap-up opening today, offsetting the losses of the past three days, indicates an optimism over the ongoing Q2 earnings despite concerns about the Middle East and subdued start by the IT sector. The upward trend was broad-based with particular upside in banking, oil & gas and FMCG sectors.

However, some profit-taking was evident as the day concluded. FIIs continue to withdraw funds due to rise in the US bond yields. An insight about the future direction of interest rates is expected from the Fed Chair’s upcoming speech on October 19. While the market will also closely monitor the developments in the Israel-Hamas conflict, with a consensus emerging that the geopolitical risk will not elevate,” said Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs593.66 crore, according to exchange data.