MUMBAI: After four straight sessions of downhill trudge, the markets ricocheted to partly recoup the losses of this week. There was an across the board up move propelled by bargain hunting by investors. Institutional investors also perked up the markets on showing renewed buying support.

After testing the trough at 5574 levels in afternoon trades, the benchmark BSE Sensex did a smart turn around and clocked a steady uphill climb till it closed the session with a strong gain of 136 points at 5756.76. The NSE S&P CNX Nifty too moved up 53 points to end at 1822 levels.

Media stocks too turned with the tide and posted healthy gains. The sector showed up among the market winners with some media stocks recovering the losses of the last two sessions.

Media major Zee jacked up 16 per cent in today's smart recovery. The scrip opened at Rs 134.55 and moved up to Rs 156.15 to recoup more than yesterday's plunge of 11 per cent. Over 3.16 million Zee shares were traded on the BSE.

Zee group company ETC Networks also pulled up seven per cent to close at Rs 44.80. Another Zee company Padmalaya Telefilms however, tugged the other way. The stock came down 1.1 per cent to Rs 71.80.

Aroon Purie's TV Today Network (TVTN) has posted a healthy growth of 14.12 per cent in its third quarter net profit over the corresponding quarter in the previous fiscal. The net profit for the quarter ending 31 December 2003 stands at Rs 101 million vis-à-vis Rs 88.5 million in the third quarter of 2002. Aggregate revenues for the quarter stand at Rs 415.8 million, which is up 23.68 per cent year on year (YoY) from Rs 336.2 million in the same quarter last fiscal.

The TVTN scrip paced up 7.84 per cent to settle at Rs 146.55. The scrip touched a 52-week low of Rs 132 during the day covering a range of Rs 132-148. Over 0.45 million shares for value Rs 641 lakh were traded on the BSE. In today's date, the stock has pared down 19.19 per cent from its first day's close of Rs 181.35. A cross section of market analysts believe that the stock is still over weight at these levels and will settle at Rs 150-170 levels once the initial excitement over the stock settles down.

TV Eighteen, which owns the business channel CNBC-TV18 gained close to five per cent to close the day at Rs 205.20 while mass entertainment channel SABTNL recouped half of yesterday's losses with a gain of 5.6 per cent. The stock closed at Rs 79.75. More than 0.12 million shares were traded on the BSE.

Crest Communications also figured amongst the gainers with a six per cent rise. The stock closed the session at Rs 50.35 and over 0.15 million Crest shares changed hands on the BSE. Subhash Ghai's Mukta Arts moved up 2.38 per cent to close not far from the day's high at Rs 56.

Hinduja TMT put on 5.4 per cent to close at Rs 281.10 on the BSE. Manmohan Shetty's Adlabs Films pulled up 7.8 per cent to close the session at Rs 108.60. The stock was trading in the range of Rs 99-117 on the BSE.

Amongst the production houses, Balaji Telefilms gained 10 per cent to close the session near the day's high at Rs 87. BAG Films was one to buck the trend - the stock moved in an extremely narrow range and ended the session two paise lower at Rs 8.32.