Gains in IT, pharma and select financial stocks supported the markets
Domestic stock markets started Wednesday's session on a positive note amid cautious gains in Asian peers, as the country remained in an extended lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The S&P BSE Sensex index rose as much as 1.06 per cent - or 341.9 points - to 32,456.42 in morning deals, having started the session up 196.52 points at 32,311.04. The broader NSE Nifty benchmark climbed to as high as 9,480.65, after starting the day at 9,408.60 as against its previous close of 9,380.90.
Gains in IT, pharma and select financial stocks supported the markets, however weakness in private sector banks kept the upside in check.
At 9:23 am, the Sensex traded 250.69 points - or 0.78 per cent - higher at 32,365.21 while the Nifty was up 62.20 points - or 0.66 per cent - at 9,443.10.
In the 50-scrip Nifty basket, 39 stocks traded higher at the time. Top percentage gainers were HDFC, Bajaj Finance, Zee Entertainment, Bajaj Finserv and GAIL, trading between 2.13 per cent and 4.51 per cent higher.
On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Dr Reddy's, Bharti Infratel and Hindustan Unilever - down between 0.79 per cent and 3.64 per cent each - were the top Nifty losers.
Market breadth favoured gains with an advance-decline ratio of 2:1, as 782 stocks on the BSE traded higher against 356 that moved lower.
Analysts say investors are still in a cautious mode assessing the measures announced by policymakers to fight the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.
Axis Bank shares fell as much as 6.16 per cent to hit Rs 427.50 apiece on the BSE in early deals, a day after the country's third biggest private sector lender reported a surprise loss in the January-March period. Axis Bank's net loss for the quarter ended March 31 came in at Rs 1,388 crore, as it set aside more funds to cover a potential rise in non performing assets (NPAs) - or bad loans - in a coronavirus-hit economy.
Meanwhile, Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday slashed its growth forecast for India to 0.2 per cent in 2020, from 2.5 per cent projected in March. Moody's expects the country's GDP or gross domestic product expansion to rebound to 6.2 per cent the next year.
Equities in other Asian markets moved higher cautiously as investors paused ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy decision. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was last seen trading 0.2 per cent up in its third straight day of gains. Japan's markets were closed for a public holiday.
Overnight in the US, Wall Street benchmarks ended a volatile session with losses. The S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite indices ended 0.52 per cent, 0.13 per cent and 1.40 per cent lower respectively.
On Tuesday, the Sensex had closed 371.44 points - or 1.17 per cent - higher at 32,114.52 and the Nifty settled at 9,380.90, up 98.60 points - or 1.06 per cent - from its previous close.
