Sensex closes above 16000; telecom, metals, realty, power up

The markets recovered remarkably in the second half of trade, especially post Finance Minister's and Home Minister's comments. The Sensex closed above the 16,000 mark while the Nifty ended above the 4,750 level, after recovering 3% from the day's low.

Buying in telecom, metal, realty, power, auto, oil & gas exploration, select banking and capital goods stocks helped the markets to recover. However, selling in individual stocks like SBI, ITC, Infosys, NTPC, Ambuja Cements and ACC limited the gains to some extent.

Talks on disinvestment process pushed equity benchmarks higher in late trade. After a cabinet meeting, Home Minister, P Chidambaram said all unlisted PSUs (public sector undertakings) with a positive networth would be listed and a minimum of 10% of equity of all PSUs' would be held by public. He also said the government would use disinvestment proceeds for social sector for 3 years. Cabinet effectively approved sale of upto 10% in all PSUs'. This may reduce the burden on fiscal deficit.

Few months back, Finance Minister unveiled new direct tax code. While commenting on the same, he said the government aimed to lower tax rates via new direct tax code.

Airline stocks witnessed buying interest, as sources said Cabinet Secretary would review FDI norm in aviation on November 17.

The 30-share Sensex closed at 16,063.90, up 151.77 points or 0.95%, after seeing recovery of 499 points from the day's low of 15,564.89. The 30-share NSE Nifty recouped loss 155 points from an intraday low of 4610.60, before closing at 4765.55, up 1.16% or 54.75 points. The broader indices outperformed the benchmark indices, gained 1.8-2%.