Mumbai, March 22 (PTI) Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty made a spirited recovery to close over 1 per cent higher on Tuesday, riding on gains in Reliance Industries, Infosys and TCS amid a recovery in global equities.
After opening lower, the 30-share BSE Sensex had plunged to a day's low of 56,930.30 points on concerns over inflation and growth as India hiked fuel prices after a 137-day hiatus.
However, the barometer rebounded in afternoon trade in line with gains in European and Asian stocks.
The BSE Sensex closed up by 696.81 points or 1.22 per cent at 57,989.30 as 26 of its constituents ended in green.
The broader NSE Nifty climbed 197.90 points or 1.16 per cent to finish at 17,315.50.
"We witnessed good rebound in markets driven by buying in Reliance. Market recovery after the morning fall is a good sign for Indian market. In coming days, we still expect volatility to persist till the war situation between Russia and Ukraine and crude price stabilize," said Rahul Sharma of Equity 99.
Gains in the broader market were marginal compared to the benchmark index, with the BSE midcap index gaining 0.17 per cent and smallcap gauge 0.15 per cent.
Tech Mahindra emerged as the lead gainer with a jump of 3.83 per cent, followed by RIL (2.59 per cent), Bajaj Finserv (2.46 per cent), ITC (2.21 per cent), TCS (2.09 per cent), Kotak Mahindra Bank (1.88 per cent) and Infosys (1.87 per cent).
In contrast, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Nestle India, NTPC, and Sun Pharma were the laggards.
"The domestic market started with a negative bias taking cues from rising crude prices and hawkish signals from Fed on aggressive policy tightening. However, the trend reversed as European markets opened on a positive note buoyed by hope that Ukraine may consider working towards a truce," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Among BSE sectoral indices, energy (1.96 per cent), oil and gas (1.94 per cent), IT (1.93 per cent) and Teck (1.76 per cent) were the biggest gainers.
"Markets posted strong gains and settled around the day's high amid mixed cues. Initially, the bias was slightly on the negative side in continuation to Monday's fall, however a strong surge in the select index majors from IT, energy, and banking space completely changed the tone in the latter half," Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking Ltd said.
Stock exchanges in Europe were trading higher in mid-session deals. Equity exchanges in Shanghai, Seoul, Hong Kong and Tokyo ended with significant gains.
Meanwhile, rating agency Fitch has slashed India's growth forecast for the next fiscal to 8.5 per cent from 10.3 per cent, citing sharply high energy prices on account of the Russia-Ukraine war.
"The war in Ukraine and economic sanctions on Russia have put global energy supplies at risk. Sanctions seem unlikely to be rescinded any time soon," the agency said.
State-run oil marketing firms hiked petrol and diesel prices by 80 paise a litre each while domestic cooking gas LPG rates were increased by Rs 50 per cylinder, ending an over four-and-a-half month election-related hiatus in rate revision, fanning inflation fears.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 1.57 per cent to USD 113.8 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 2,962.12 crore on Monday, according to stock exchange data.
