U-turn in last hour: Sensex gains 204 points to 66174 on auto stocks

Mumbai: On the global front, with economic uncertainty still continuing in China and the situation in the property sector becoming fluid, the market took a U-turn in the last hour after the initial sluggishness in the Indian stock markets today against a mixed trend in the global markets amid overall soft conditions despite the stimulus measures. In the last hour, the market fell on the path of rapid recovery as funds bought big in automobile stocks led by Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and in finance stocks led by Bajaj Twins Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv along with index stocks Bharti Airtel, Ultratech Cement, NTPC, Titan Company. There was talk of foreign funds buying heavily in PSU companies and power stocks today. Along with this, oil-gas stocks also rose. The Sensex, after touching a low of 65906.65 in initial narrow swing, rose to a high of 66256.20 and finally rose 204.16 points to close at 66174.20. While the Nifty spot after falling to 19800 in the beginning, recovered to 19916.85 in the last hour and finally increased by 95 points to close at 19889.70. However, funds, high net worth investors, sportsmen continued to buy extensively in small, mid cap stocks today. International crude oil prices were in a narrow range as Russia's supply increased in the global market despite the postponement of the OPEC meeting, with Brent crude up 82 cents to $80.80 and New York-Nymex crude up 82 cents to close at $75.68.

Auto index jumped by 428 points

Funds bought heavily in stocks of automobile companies today. Following the recent successful IPO of Tata Technologies, the stock closed at Rs 697.60, rising by Rs 23.95 as funds bought heavily in Tata Motors before the company's shares were listed on the 30th. Among other auto stocks, Motherson rose by Rs.2.43 to Rs.89.93, Hero Motocorp rose by Rs.75.60 to Rs.3622.50, Apollo Tires rose by Rs.8.05 to Rs.422.75, Balakrishna Industries by Rs.39. 55 up to Rs.2608.90, TVS Motor up by Rs.24.55 to Rs.1824.80, Bajaj Auto up by Rs.80.15 to Rs.6009.95, Bosch up by Rs.248.15 to Rs.21275, Mahindra & Mahindra It increased by Rs.13.25 to Rs.1565.95, MRF increased by Rs.232.20 to Rs.1,11,633.45, Maruti Suzuki increased by Rs.19.05 to Rs.10,537.15. The BSE Auto Index rose 427.78 points to close at 39243.58.

Oil-gas index jumped 610 points

Oil-gas stocks rallied today as funds raised their price targets on the overall sustained attractiveness of crude oil and better earnings expectations for oil-gas companies by HSBC. Funds rose by Rs 22.75 to Rs 342.90 with HPCL increasing its target from Rs 215 to Rs 375, Adani Total Gas up Rs 107.35 to Rs 644.15, IOC up Rs 4.76 to Rs. .108.12, HSBC raised its target to Rs.555 from Rs.340 for BPCL, which gained Rs.14.10 to Rs.424.30, while ONGC rose by Rs.5.10 to Rs.193.85. The BSE Oil-Gas Index jumped 610.08 points to close at 20125.90. Crude oil prices were close to Brent 80.80 dollars and New York 75.68 dollars.

Finance-banking stocks rallied in the last hour

Finance-banking stocks saw heavy buying in the last hour today. Bajaj Finserv increased by Rs.37.55 to Rs.1654.55, Bajaj Finance rose by Rs.104.30 to Rs.7126.15, especially on the basis of the shares of Bajaj Twins companies. Along with this, New India Assurance increased by Rs.16.60 to Rs.226, MCX India increased by Rs.200.55 to Rs.3129.70, Fino Payments increased by Rs.17.80 to Rs.293, Max Financial increased by Rs.35.60 to Rs. .1005.05, CSB Bank increased by Rs.11.85 to Rs.391.05, AU Small Finance increased by Rs.14.45 to Rs.736.55, Axis Bank increased by Rs.12.25 to Rs.1020.40.

DII's net purchase of Rs.1325 crore

Foreign Portfolio Investors - FPIs and FIIs had a net purchase of Rs.783.82 crore worth of shares in cash today-Tuesday. A total of Rs.13,690.47 crore was sold against a total purchase of Rs.14,474.29 crore. While DII-domestic institutional investors had a net purchase of shares worth Rs.1324.98 crore in cash today. A total of Rs.6763.72 crore was sold against a total purchase of Rs.8088.70 crore.