Here's a roundup of how the markets looked today

A sharp bout of short covering and a global rebound in equities reflected on Indian stocks on Thursday as traders scrambled to cover their positions on the last day of the monthly futures and options expiry, prompting the Nifty to break the 5-day losing streak.

Stocks in Japan, Hong Kong and Shanghai closed with gains of more than 1-5 percent in a sharp bounce-back.

Meanwhile, the Nifty soared 162 points, or 2.1 percent, to end at 7,954, it's day's high on Thursday. The Advance-Decline Ratio was 40/10. HDFC, Infosys, ICICI Bank, L&T and TCS were the top gainers on the Nifty while BHEL, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, Coal India and Hero Motors slipped in trade.

HDFC was the top traded stock on the Nifty, with 1,033 crore rupees worth of shares changing hands. Infosys and ICICI Bank were also in demand on the NSE.

All broader indices gained. The CNX 100, CNX 200, CNX 500, CNX MidCap, CNX Small Cap indices rose between 2 percent and 3 percent. The Bank nifty added 297 points, or 1.8 percent, to 17,214 points. CNX Realty, CNX Pharma and CNX Finance Indices were the top gainers in the sectoral space.

The Sensex surged a whopping 516 points, or 2 percent, to close at 26,231 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The Index ended the day at its high for the session. HDFC, Vedanta, Tata Steel, Lupin and Cipla posted strong gains while BHEL, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors and Hero Motors slipped in trade. The Advance-Decline Ratio was at 20/10 and ICICI Bank was the top traded counter with 58 crore shares changing hands on the Sensex.

Bulls reasserted their control on the Futures and Options space on the last day of the monthly derivatives expiry. The Advance-Decline Ratio was a strong 148/13. Adani Enterprises, JP Associates, IB Real Estate were the top gaining futures today while BHEL, Bajaj Auto, Tata Global and NTPC fell in trade. All 18 sectors posted smart gains today with Realty, Infrastructure and metal sectors rising the most.

Hathway, Indian Overseas Bank, UCAL fuels and BASF India made it to the top volume buzzers list on the National Stock Exchange while 8K Miles, Jubilant Industries and La Opala made fresh highs on the markets.

Image credit: Indiatimes