Anagram Stock Broking head of research M K Sharma said, “Both institutional and retail investors are returning to the markets now. Yesterday there was heavy selling pressure in the small and mid-cap segments, which was today made good by buying across all segments in the market. The sentiment is buoyant and people who had earlier sold their holdings now want to gain value.” The BSE Sensex is still down 20 per cent during the year and 23.5 per cent below the record high of 21,206.77 hit on January 10, after a global equities rout took its toll.

In Asia, markets in Hong Kong and Australia, both of which had been closed since Thursday for the Easter holiday, jumped on easing concerns about the global credit crisis. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 6.4 per cent while Australia’s S&P/ ASX 200 rose 3.7 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index climbed 2.2 per cent.

It’s bulls all the way

•Fears over global credit crisis ease

•JP Morgan raises Bear Stearns takeover price by 5 times

•New US home sales rise 2.9% in February

•Other global markets rally on heavy buying

•Bottom fishing in battered realty, banking and capital goods stocks