Sensex gains 599 points after falling below 72,000 intraday

MUMBAI: Israel's strike on Iran on Friday morning spooked Dalal Street investors , and the resultant selling pulled the sensex down by over 650 points in early trades, with the index falling below the 72k mark after almost a month. However, the absence of any official confirmation of the strike from Israel led to buying at lower levels that helped the sensex close at 73,088 points, up 599 points.

The recovery was also supported by short covering, market players said.

On the NSE, Nifty closed at 22,147 points, up 151 points. The day's rally added about Rs 50,000 crore to investors' wealth with BSE's market capitalisation now at Rs 400 lakh crore.

According to Ajit Mishra of Religare Broking, weak global cues triggered a gap-down start for the Indian market followed by a muted move in the first half. "However, gradual recovery in the heavyweights across sectors pared all the losses and pushed the index in the green."

The day's session also witnessed a mixed trend on the sectoral front with financials, metals and banking stocks performing well while realty and pharma closed lower, Mishra said.