Banks, auto cos help Sensex recover 461 pts

Rupee snaps six-session losing streak against dollar

Benchmark indices staged a strong comeback on Wednesday after the recent rout as investors accumulated battered financials, auto and metal stocks amid rupee recovery from record lows.

The BSE Sensex, after a gap up opening of 34,493.21, rallied to hit a high of 34,858.35 before ending 461.42 points, or 1.35 per cent, higher at 34,760.89.

The broader Nifty too reclaimed the key 10,400 mark. It touched a high of 10,482.35, before finally settling at 10,460.10, showing a significant gain of 159.05 points, or 1.54 per cent.

The rupee also snapped its six-session losing streak to end 18 paise higher at 74.21 against the US dollar on Wednesday.

Key indices stayed in the positive terrain through the session as buying activity gathered momentum.

The Sensex had lost nearly 175 points on Tuesday.

Sentiment also got a lift after the SBI, coming to the rescue of cash-strapped NBFCs, decided Tuesday to buy their assets to the tune of Rs 45,000 crore, a move that will provide liquidity support to non-banking financing companies (NBFCs) facing headwinds after a series of loan defaults by IL&FS group firms.

"The market turned positive from over sold region led by financial stocks and marginal gain in rupee. Besides, RBI's open market operation to buy government bonds will ease concerns about liquidity crunch in the system," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said.