Sensex up 1,028.17 points, Nifty settles at 8557 as rally continues in Indian stock market

New Delhi: Rally continued in the Indian stock market on Tuesday (March 31) and equity benchmark indices closed in the green. The Sensex closed up 1,028.17 points or 3.62% at 29468.49, while the broader Nifty ended 275.90 points up or 3.33% at 8557. 

Major gainers on the Nifty were BPCL, Britannia Industries, ONGC and Gail, while IndusInd Bank, Eicher Motors, Cipla, and Zee Entertainment were top losers. All the sectoral indices ended in the green led by energy followed by FMCG, metal, IT and pharma. 

In the afternoon trade, the BSE Sensex rose over 1,000 points, and the Nifty50 also rose 300 points to trade above the 8,500 mark. At 12.42 pm, the Sensex was trading at 29,467.43, higher by 1,027.11, or 3.61 per cent from the previous close of 28,440.32, while the broader Nifty was trading at 8,586.05, higher by 304.95 points or 3.68 per cent from its previous close.

Gains were witnessed across sectors, with healthy buying in metal, energy and oil and gas stocks, and the major gainers were HDFC, ONGC and HCL Technologies, while IndusInd Bank and Maruti Suzuki were the only losers

During early hours today, equity benchmark indices traded higher tracking gains in global markets and a sizable improvement in Chinese manufacturing data for March. At 10:15 am, the BSE Sensex was up by 462 points or 1.62 per cent to 28,902 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 147 points or 1.77 per cent to 8,428.

All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the positive zone with Nifty metal up by 4.1 per cent, financial service by 2.6 per cent, IT by 2.3 per cent and realty by 1.4 per cent. Among stocks, metal major witnessed substantial gains with Vedanta moving up by 7.5 per cent to Rs 66.20 per share. Hindalco ticked up by 7.5 per cent, JSW Steel by 6.6 per cent and Tata Steel by 5.6 per cent.

Private sector lenders Axis Bank and ICICI Bank edged higher by 4 per cent and 3 per cent respectively. The other prominent gainers were Bharat Petroleum Corporation, ONGC, Wipro, HDFC and Britannia.

Meanwhile, most Asian equities enjoyed gains on Tuesday following another rally on Wall Street, while oil bounced, with traders welcoming a surprise jump in Chinese factory activity, though analysts cautioned that the road ahead remained rocky for the global economy.

The World Bank also warned that fallout from the coronavirus pandemic could bring China's growth to a standstill, with even a best-case scenario seeing expansion slow to 2.3 per cent from 6.1 per cent in 2019.

Trillions of dollars pledged to offset the economic impact of the deadly virus have provided a semblance of stability to world markets, which were initially pummelled by the rapid spread of the disease, which has forced swathes of the planet -- and the economy -- into lockdown.

After another rally on Wall Street, which saw all three main indexes jump more than three per cent, Asia picked up the baton. Hong Kong, Jakarta and Wellington were all more than one per cent higher, Mumbai and Manila climbed more than three per cent, while Singapore, Seoul and Bangkok were more than two per cent better off. Shanghai edged up 0.1 per cent.

But Sydney reversed early advances to end down two percent, having soared seven percent Monday on its best day in history. Tokyo finished 0.9 percent lower.

Adding to the more positive mood on trading floors was data showing China's manufacturing sector saw surprise growth in March, having been mauled in February as the country went into lockdown to tackle the virus. China's Purchasing Managers' Index, a key gauge of factory activity, jumped to 52.0 from a record low 35.7 the month before. Anything above 50 is considered growth.

However, crude surged -- with WTI up more than seven percent at one point -- following another battering Monday that saw the commodity hit an 18-year low after major producer Saudi Arabia said it would ramp up exports to a record 10.6 million barrels per day in May.

(With Agency Inputs)