Sensex recovers by 221.46 pts, closes firm at 13,159.55

Mumbai, Mar 1 (UNI) The Sensex recovered by 221.46 points on the Bombay Stock Exchange today and ended on a firm level at 13,159.55 points, buoyed by an upsurge in the US capital markets and recovery in key Indian ADRs.

Among key Indian ADRs, HDFC Bank's ADR jumped 5 per cent to USD 66.36 and ICICI Bank's ADR rose almost 5 per cent to USD 38.36.

Infosys' ADR gained 1.4 per cent to USD 54.26, while Tata Motors' ADR gained 2.5 per cent to USD 18.51.

Meanwhile, Chinese stocks, which have been extremely volatile this week, fell modestly today amid heavy trading, hit by profit-taking and weak performances by other key markets.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell by 1.7 per cent by midday, to 2,831.57. The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index was 0.5 per cent lower, at 733.05.

The Hang Seng Index was down by 1.55 per cent, while the Japanese Nikkei 225 Index was down by 0.86 per cent.

The Sensex, which had been on a downtrend ever since striking an all-time high of 14,723.88 on February 9, rebounded with great force today. Bargain-hunting for battered index pivotals and short-covering in derivative segment helped to reverse the downtrend.

The markets ended firm making a smart recovery after a choppy session on Thursday with the benchmark index surging 221 points to close at 13,159 level.

The 30-shares BSE Sensex settled 221.46 points higher, at 13,159.55. It had also surged to a high of 13,193.13. Most of the gains came in the second half of the day's trading session, triggered by short-covering.

The market-breadth, which had turned weak, kept on recovering as the day progressed. On BSE, 1,435 shares were in the red, and 1140 ended in the green, while 67 scrips remained unchanged.

Among the 30-Sensex pack, 19 advanced while the rest declined.

The S&P CNX Nifty index of NSE surged 65.90 points, to 3,811.20. The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 4097 crore.

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