BSE Sensex rebounds 146 pts on buying in oil stocks

The BSE Sensex recovered by 146 points on Thursday on fund-based buying mainly in oil stocks like Reliance Industry (RIL) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).

Brokers said oil processing and marketing companies were in demand after the government virtually deregulated diesel prices allowing "small" hikes over a period of time.

Diesel prices in all probability may be hiked as early as tonight, following the government decision that might to cut subsidy bill and reduce fiscal deficit, they said.

The 30-share index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which had lost 169 points in the previous session, bounced back by 146.40 points to settle at 19,964.03 points.

The 50-share National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose by 37.35 points, or 0.62 per cent, to 6,039.20 points.


ONGC, which also bears a part of diesel subsidy bill, rose the most among Sensex stocks by 3.66 per cent. Oil refiner Reliance Industries shot up by 3.40 per cent.

Among others, Hindustan Petroleum gained 6.06 per cent to Rs 345.60, Bharat Petroleum by 3.75 per cent to Rs 295.90, Indian Oil by 6.60 per cent to Rs 315.90, Oil India by 4.36 per cent to Rs 514.90 and Essar Oil by 5.06 per cent to Rs 76.85.

Brokers said better quarterly earnings by leading IT companies further supported the market sentiment.

After Infosys and TCS, software solutions provider HCL Technologies on Thursday posted better-than-expected profit in October-December period. HCL Tech rose by 4.31 per cent.

Infosys shares too rose by 0.91 per cent as foreign investors remained net buyers of Indian stocks for the 13th straight day.

With inputs from PTI