Sensex recovers 86 pts in early trade

FIRM OPENING: Nifty was up by 41.70 points or 0.63 per cent at 3,802.80.

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New Delhi: After a flat opening, the stock markets on Thursday gained ground with the benchmark Sensex recovering by over 86 points in early trade on revival of buying by funds amdist short-covering by speculators in heavy-weight stocks.

The BSE-30 share index, Sensex, which had lost over 400 points in the previous two trading sessions, was up by 86.92 points at 12,970.26 in the first five minutes of trading.

Similarly, on the wide-based National Stock Exchange, Nifty, was up by 41.70 points or 0.63 per cent at 3,802.80.

Stockbrokers said short-covering in blue-chip stocks by speculators, as today being the last session in March expiry in the derivative, futures and option segment, helped trading sentiments to improve.

Cement stocks like ACC, Grasim Industries and Gujarat Ambuja Cement were back in the positive zone on selective buying, helping the Sensex to recover.

Other gainers were Reliance Industries, Reliance Capital, Infosys Technologies, TCS, Tata Motors, Maruti Udyog, ITC Ltd, Dr Reddy's Lab, Ranbaxy and HDFC Ltd.

However, Bharti, SBI, NTPC, Rel Comm, Infosys and HDFC Bank were trading weak.

Asian stocks recovered from a rocky start to trade mixed at mid-morning on Thursday, although Japan's Nikkei 225 average failed to shake its downbeat tone, ranking as the leading regional decliner as exporters such as Honda Motor Corp and Sony Corp moved lower after the yen rose to a one-week high against the US dollar.

Japan's Nikkei tumbled 0.92 per cent or 158.48 points at 17,096.25, Singapore's Straits Times fell 0.21 per cent or 6.81 points at 3,194.94. However, Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted was up 0.09 per cent or 6.78 points at 7,794.92, South Korea's Seoul Composite rose 0.26 per cent or 3.72 points at 1,443.46 and Hong Kong's Heng Seng was flat at 19,551.72.

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