Nifty closes above 5K; telecom, auto, banks, cap goods up

The benchmark Nifty managed to recoup some of Tuesday's losses and closed above the 5000 mark despite weak European cues. Shares of telecom, auto, banking, realty, cement, metal and select technology companies helped the indices. ONGC was the leading player. Short covering also helped the markets in last half an hour of trade, as the Nifty June future closed at 5 points discount, as per provisional data, which trimmed from 30 points discount during the day.

Telecom was buzz on the street today on merger & acquisitions news. There were reports that Etisalat Emirates is looking for 25% stake in Reliance Communications. The chairman of Abu Dhabi based Etisalat Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) has said that the company is indeed in talks with several Indian telecom operators to buy a stake, CNBC-TV18 reported quoting agencies. The chairman, however, declined to comment on any deal specifically with Reliance Communications (Rcom).

Reliance Communications on its part has clarified that the company has been receiving many stake buy proposals and that they have been evaluating all such proposals from time to time."The company evaluates such proposals, in line with the company's policy to constantly endeavour to enhance overall shareholder value," the No. 2 Indian telecom firm said in a statement to the stock exchange.

Reliance Communications surged 11.5%. Bharti Airtel rose 5.2% and Idea Cellular rallied 9%. MTNL gained 2.5%. The BSE TECk Index, which includes media, tech, telecom, was up 2%.

ONGC has been leading player since last week. The stock rose over 3% and gained 10% since last week. Among other oil & gas stocks, GAIL was up 1% while BPCL and Cairn were marginally in red. Heavyweight Reliance Industries closed flat.

The 30-share BSE Sensex closed at 16,741.84, up 169.81 points or 1.02% and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 49.65 points or 1% to settle at 5,019.85. The broader indices also gained 0.8% each.