What was the big trigger for the Nifty and Sensex to bounce back so sharply on 19 February?

After 4 days of weakness, the spurt in the Nifty and Sensex on 19 Feb did take most traders by surprise. Sensex closed 429 points up on Wednesday even as the Nifty closed 133 points higher. The sentiments were turned by the positive cues coming from the telecom sector. Vodafone Idea rallied by 40% in a single day after the DOT agreed not to cash the bank guarantees of Vodafone which would push the company to the brink of insolvency. The positive cues led to a spurt of short covering in the markets as the Nifty closed convincingly above the 12,100 mark. The proposal to launch a telecom fund to ease the cash flow pressures on the telecom sector is also likely to be viewed positively by the stock markets. But to a large extent, it was also short covering ahead of the long week end in the Indian markets.