Sensex rebounds 398 points in opening trade on firm Asian cues | Indian Shares Rise Sharply in Early Trade

MUMBAI: Snapping its six-session losing streak, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex made a strong comeback by rising nearly 400 points in opening trade on Wednsesday, supported by a rebound on other Asian bourses.

The 30-share BSE barometer, which has lost nearly 1,455 points in the past six sessions to hit a 14-month low, rose by 398.55 points to 17,256.46 as stocks led by the recently battered technology sector moved into positive terrain with gains of up to 2.96 per cent in morning trade.

Similarly, the broad-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index shot up by 107.95 points to 5,180.80.

Brokers said a fresh spell of buying by funds and investors powered the Sensex's rise in initial trade, spurred by a firming trend in other Asian markets following overnight gains in the US after the Federal Reserve announced that it would keep interest rates near zero for at least two years.

In addition, covering up of short positions by speculators supported the recovery, they said.

In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose by 3.70 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei gained 1.72 per cent in morning trade on Wednesday. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 3.98 per cent higher in the previous session.

Indian shares extend fall to 3% on weak Asia

MUMBAI: Indian shares extended their fall to 3 per cent on Monday, tracking a selloff in Asian markets after Standard & Poor's downgraded the US sovereign debt rating and on fears that the world's largest economy may be sliding back into recession.

At 10:02 am, the 30-share BSE index was down 3.1 per cent at 16,771.90 points, with all of its components declining.

The 50-share NSE index fell nearly 3 per cent to 5,056.25 points.

Asian stocks fell on Monday after last week's historic downgrade of the United States' credit rating, which compounded concerns over the world's biggest economy as well as the global outlook.

The falls were echoed by big losses in oil while gold surged to another record as investors moved out of risky assets.

They also follow a huge sell-off on Friday caused by mounting problems in the eurozone amid growing expectations that Italy and Spain could need a bailout.

The combination of the eurozone debt problem and Standard & Poor's downgrade led to frantic talks between financial chiefs and central bankers of the G7 and European Central Bank at the weekend as they tried to prevent another day of market turmoil.