Sensex up 152 pts after a day of lows and highs

A sudden spurt of buying towards the fag end of trading, sparked by the government's decision today to divest 10% in all listed companies, pushed the benchmark Sensex up by more than 150 points to regain the 16,000-level after three days. Markets turned bearish in early trade after yesterday's rebound rally on weak cues from Asia and plunged to 15,564 points. Sentiment, however, turned bullish within minutes of Home Minister P Chidambaram announcing the Cabinet decision to divest 10% stake in all listed companies. Government also decided to list all profit-making public sector firms with a positive networth. After a roller-coaster ride, which saw the Sensex swinging over 500 points, the 30-share index finally closed the day at 16,063.90, netting a rise of 151.77 points or 0.95% over its previous close.