Sensex makes a 136 point rebound as bad loan fight paces up

The BSE Sensex made a strong recovery of 136 points at the start today on the back of a slew of steps by regulator Sebi to make markets more attractive for investments.Asian cues remained mixed.

The 30-share index rebounded by 136.27 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 31,419.91. Realty, metal, power and auto were in the positive zone, rising by up to 1.09 per cent.

The gauge had lost 27.93 points in the previous two sessions.

The NSE Nifty also moved up by 33.85 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 9,667.45.

Among a host of key decisions yesterday, Sebi relaxed its



takeover norms for restructuring listed companies with stressed assets, which is expected to bolster efforts in fight against bad loans.Some short covering helped stocks too bounce back.

Major contributors to the recovery were HDFC Ltd, PowerGrid, Asian Paints, Tata Motors, Tata Motors DVR, Sun Pharma and Axis Bank, gaining up to 1.37 per cent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.18 per cent while Shanghai Composite rose 0.72 per cent in early trade today. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.10 per cent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.27 per cent down yesterday.