The domestic equity market on Thursday snapped the five-day losing streak as the benchmark Sensex recouped its lost ground and closed 78 points higher on fag-end value buying in banking, energy and financial stocks.
A positive opening in the European market helped investor sentiments even as clouds hovered over the health of the global banking system amid Credit Suisse woes and bank failures in the US. Halting its five-day losing streak, the 30-share BSE benchmark rose 78.94 points or 0.14 per cent to close at 57,634.84 points, with 17 of its constituents ending in the green. During the session, it touched a high of 57,887.46 points and a low of 57,158.69 points.
The 50-share NSE Nifty advanced 13.45 points or 0.08 per cent to settle at 16,985.60 points. As many as Nifty 32 stocks closed in the green.
Equity benchmarks bounced back to end in the positive territory after trading lower for the most part of the volatile session.
"With the turbulence at Credit Suisse and ahead of the ECB policy announcement, investors' attention has switched to developments in the European market. Consistently unfavourable signs in global markets are encouraging investors to move to safe havens such as the dollar and gold, while FIIs are withdrawing funds from the domestic market in response to the Indian rupee's depreciation.
"Though the SVB & Credit Suisse crisis has eased, the market lacks the confidence to hold positions on contagion fears," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Nestle India was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, rising 2.54 per cent, followed by Asian Paints, HUL, Titan, Sun Pharma, SBI, PowerGrid and Bajaj Finserv.
On the other hand, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Tech and Reliance were among the losers, slipping up to 3.31 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, power gained 1.13 per cent, oil&gas rose 1.08 per cent, realty 1 per cent, bankex by 0.30 per cent and financial services by 22 per cent.
In contrast, metal, commodities, IT and tech were among those closing in the red.
Domestic equities arrested its five days losing streak after the Swiss National Bank agreed to provide financial aid to the Credit Suisse Group. Nifty opened positive but witnessed a rollercoaster ride throughout the session to finally end with marginal gains of 13 points at 16,986 levels, said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.
"Fresh concern over Credit Suisse's failure has aggravated fears with regards to how deep-rooted the banking crisis can get going ahead. Its ripple effect is seen across global markets, including India," he added.
In Asian markets, Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul ended with significant losses.
European stock markets marched higher in early trade on Thursday after embattled lender Credit Suisse announced its plans to boost liquidity.
Credit Suisse has said that it will borrow funds from the Swiss central bank and buy back about USD 3 billion of its debt to help mitigate the growing crisis around it.
Major indices on Wall Street settled on a mixed note in the overnight trade.
Meanwhile, the rupee declined 13 paise to close at 82.78 against the US dollar on Thursday.
International oil benchmark Brent crude gained 0.76 per cent to USD 74.25 per barrel.
Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 1,271.25 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
"The positive divergence and positive crossover on the hourly charts suggest that the bounce can continue over the next few trading sessions. Considering that the Nifty has corrected 1,000 points in the last six trading sessions it is appearing oversold and hence a relief rally appears highly probable over the next few trading sessions," said Jatin Gedia, Technical Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.
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