Late buying lifts Sensex 123 points higher Late buying lifts Sensex 123 points higher Late buying lifts Sensex 123 points higher Late buying lift

After remaining lacklustre for most part of the trade, the markets gained momentum in late trade and closed higher for second straight session
Headlines for the day
Tata Global jumps on JV with PepsiCo
Hindalco Inds Q3 net profit declines marginally
Ambuja Cements Q4 net profit up 17%
Essar Shipping shoots up on better Q3 results



Indian indices
The Indian markets got a boost in late trade on a sudden spurt in buying activity. The upmove was led by gains in metal, realty, banking, auto, technology, power and consumer durables stocks. The strong European cues also lifted sentiment. The Nifty went above the 5400 mark for the first time since August 2011. Heavyweight supporters — HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Tata Motors, Jindal Steel, Sterlite Industries and Bajaj Auto.
Sensex movements: Weak Asian cues dragged the Sensex 60 points lower at 17648 in the opening trade and traded lower amid volatility for most part of the trade. In late trade, good European cues and renewed buying interest lifted the index to touch an intraday high of 17879. The Sensex settled 123 points higher at 17831 and the Nifty stood at 5412, up by 44 points.
Market sentiment
The market breadth was strong. Of the 3010 stocks traded on the BSE, 1828 (60.73%) rose, 1057 (35.12%) fell and 125 (4.15%) remained unchanged.
Viewing volumes
Wind turbine major - Suzlon Energy was traded the most, with over 0.96 crore shares changing hands on the BSE. Following that India's second largest developer - Unitech (0.74 crore shares), industrial finance company - IFCI (0.68 crore shares), a major Indian telecommunication company - Reliance Communications (0.61 crore shares) and a real estate development company - HDIL (0.50 crore shares).
Sectoral & stock screening
Only three sectors fell out of 13. Top Gainers - BSE Metal up by 2.05%, BSE Realty up by 1.95% and BSE Bankex up by 1.85%. Losers - BSE Oil & Gas down by 0.24%, BSE CG down by 0.11% and BSE HC down by 0.03%.
Among 'A' group stocks, top three gainers – Jubilant FoodWorks gained by 8.83%, Bhushan Steel jumped by 8.71% and Housing Development & Infrastructure advanced by 8.49%. Top three losers - Manappuram Finance dropped by 6.90%, Muthoot Finance fell by 5.63% and Adani Enterprises slipped by 4.30%.
Global indices
The European stock markets gained on Thursday (February 9, 2012) as Greece edged closer to a bailout deal and investors bet a brace of central bank meetings would offer further support for the move into riskier assets.
The Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday as China's inflation rate accelerated faster than market expectations and uncertainty remained over Greek bailout talks.
The US stock index futures pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street on Thursday.