Sensex gains 1,627.73 to close at 29915.96, Nifty settles at 8745.45; Bharti Infratel, GAIL, ONGC shine

New Delhi: Benchmark indices on Friday (March 20) ended higher after breaking the four-days losing streak. The  Sensex was up 1,627.73 points or 5.75% at 29915.96, while the broader Nifty was also up 482 points or 5.83% at 8745.45. Major gainer stocks on the Nifty were Bharti Infratel, GAIL, ONGC, and UltraTech Cement, while Yes Bank, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, and Adani Ports were top losers.

At 1.44 pm, Sensex was trading at 30,326.43, higher by 2,038.20 points or 7.21 per cent. It has so far touched an intra-day high of 30,326.43 and a low of 27,932.67 points. 

The broader Nifty was trading at 8,836.60, higher by 573.15 points or 6.94 per cent from its previous close. The rally came after a free fall in the markets in the past few trading sessions. 

During early hours today, equity benchmark indices witnessed volatility as policymakers around the world took further actions to minimise the human and economic impact of coronavirus pandemic. At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 306 points or 1.08 per cent to 28,594 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 95 points or 1.15 per cent to 8,358.

Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty realty down by 4 per cent, private bank by 3.9 per cent and financial service by 3.5 per cent. But Nifty FMCG gained by 3.2 per cent and pharma by 2.4 per cent. 

Among stocks, private banks suffered heavy losses with IndusInd Bank down by 6.6 per cent to Rs 414.55 per share. HDFC Bank slipped by 5.3 per cent, Kotak Mahindra Bank by 4.6 per cent, ICICI Bank by 2.9 per cent and Axis Bank by 2.7 per cent, while other prominent losers were HDFC, Bajaj Finance, Eicher Motors, Adani Ports and Titan.

Meanwhile, Asian shares staged a rare rally as Wall Street eked out gains. MSCI`s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan rose by 3.2 per cent after seven sessions of losses. 

South Korean shares bounced by 3.5 per cent.The Covid-19 infection cases have risen drastically outside China, hurting major economies and disrupting supply chains. But many countries have poured in massive amounts of stimulus into their economies while central banks have flooded markets with cheap dollars to ease funding strains.

However, stock markets rebounded from some of their recent huge losses today, pulling further away from three-year lows as central banks and governments pledged masses of cash to reduce the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Shares soared at the start of trading in Europe, with the pan-European STOXX 600 index jumping nearly 5%. Britain`s FTSE rose 4%, Germany`s DAX gained 6%, and France`s CAC 40 gained 5.86%. Spanish stocks were up 3.8% and Italian stocks gained 3%, according to a Reuters report.

MSCI`s All-Country World Index, which tracks stocks across 49 countries, was up 1.5 %. But in an indication of the deep damage inflicted on global equities from the pandemic so far, the index remains set to finish nearly 9% lower this week, adding to last week`s 11.1% plunge. US S&P 500 e-mini stock futures also pointed to a brighter end to the week, adding 3.5%.

In currency trading, the dollar lost some steam after hitting more-than three-year highs this week as investors dumped many assets in favour of the world`s reserve currency.

(With Agency Inputs)