Sensex northbound; TCS, SBI, ICICI Bank lead

The equity benchmarks recouped all their previous day's losses today on the back of recovery in global markets. But there was some profit booking at higher levels, which could be because of rise in crude oil prices again.

London Brent crude went up by USD 1.6 to USD 110.4 a barrel after Bahraini security forces attempted to clear protesters on Wednesday, rebounding from a three-week low near USD 107 earlier in the day. The Nymex crude was inching up towards USD 99 a barrel at 13:50 hours.

Financial, technology, telecom, infrastructure, oil & gas, metal, realty and cement companies' shares were leading the markets higher. However, HUL, GAIL and Hero Honda were the only losers on the Nifty. About four shares advanced as against one share declined on the National Stock Exchange.

The European markets too were quite supportive in the afternoon trade, after rebound in Asian and the US markets; Germany's DAX went up 1%. France's CAC and Britain's FTSE were flat with positive bias.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 18,401, up 233 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 72 points at 5,522. The broader indices rallied 1.5% as well.

The news of massive earthquake in Japan followed by tsunami and blasts in nuclear plants, which had left the world markets trembling in previous sessions, seems to be discounted by the markets for the time being. The Japan's Nikkei 225 Average surged 5.7% at close; Shanghai, Kospi and Taiwan gained 1-1.7%.

Heavyweights like TCS, SBI, ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel rallied 2.5-4%. Reliance Industries, Infosys and ONGC gained 0.7%.

NTPC, L&T, Axis Bank, Sun Pharma, Sterlite, Tata Steel, DLF and SAIL were up 1-2.5%.

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group companies' shares like Reliance Power, Reliance Communications and Reliance Capital surged 2.5-3.5%. Reliance Infrastructure was the top gainer on Nifty with 7% gain.

Raamdeo Agrawal of Motilal Oswal Financial Services says it is quite possible that the market might see some surprisingly new low before it sees a high. "Nifty, in all probability, will hit 5,000 before touching 6,000," he says.

Commodity prices have cooled off post the killer earthquake in Japan. This, Agarwal says, may lead to simmering down inflation as well.

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Nifty rises further; all sectoral indices gain

Indian equity benchmarks maintained their early trade gains at 12:05 hours on the back of consistent buying in financial, technology, telecom, infrastructure, Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) and realty companies