The S&P BSE Sensex index jumped as much as 2.44% to touch 32,897.59 during the session
Domestic stock markets surged to more than six-week highs on Wednesday, rising for the third session in a row, fuelled by buying interest in financial, IT and metal shares. The S&P BSE Sensex index rose as much as 2.44 per cent - or 783.07 points - to touch 32,897.59 during the session, having started the day up 196.52 points at 32,311.04. The broader NSE Nifty benchmark climbed to as high as 9,599.85 as against its previous close of 9,380.90. However, the markets gave up some of those gains by the end of the session thanks to selling pressure in consumer goods counters.
The Sensex ended 605.64 points - or 1.89 per cent - higher at 32,720.16 whereas the Nifty settled at 9,553.35, up 172.45 points - or 1.84 per cent - from the previous close.
In the 50-scrip Nifty basket, 38 stocks finished the session higher. Top percentage gainers were Hindalco, Adani Ports, HDFC, GAIL and HCL Tech, ending between 5.07 per cent and 7.03 per cent higher. On the other hand, Axis Bank, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, Dr Reddy's and Titan - closing between 0.95 per cent and 3.64 per cent lower - were the top Nifty laggards.
HDFC (ending up 7.07 per cent), HDFC Bank (4.87 per cent) and ICICI Bank (2.93 per cent) together accounted for a gain of more than 400 points in the Sensex.
Market breadth favoured gains with an advance-decline ratio of 3:2, as 1,400 stocks on the BSE rose against 804 that fell for the day. On the NSE, 1,121 stocks advanced while 668 declined.
Axis Bank shares fell more than 6 per cent during the session before ending with a loss of 3.67 per cent at Rs 438.85 apiece on the BSE, and were the worst hit on both benchmark indices, 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.
Analysts say investors are still in a cautious mode assessing the measures announced by policymakers to fight the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.
"The Reliance Industries-Facebook and Axis Bank-Max Financial deals created renewed interest in the markets that such inorganic deals of bigger size will become the new normal. The financial space got renewed interest after the Axis Bank-Max Life deal," said Anita Gandhi, director at Arihant Capital Markets.
Last week, Reliance Industries' telecom arm, Reliance Jio Infocomm, announced an investment of Rs 43,574 crore to in Jio Platforms from US-based Facebook. The social media giant's investment will translate to a 9.99 per cent stake in Jio Platforms on a fully-diluted basis, Reliance Jio said.
And on Tuesday, Axis Bank said it will buy a 29 per cent stake in insurer Max Life Insurance. The country's third largest private sector lender, which already has a minority stake in Max Life, will buy shares from the insurer's majority owner, Max Financial Services, to raise its stake to 30 per cent.
"However, profit taking at higher levels cannot be ruled out," she added.
Equities in other Asian markets moved higher, extending gains to a third straight day, as investors took heart from easing coronavirus lockdowns in some parts of the world while oil prices jumped on hopes demand will pick up. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed up 0.9 per cent, having rallied 3.3 per cent so far this week. Japan's markets were closed for a public holiday.
European shares started the day on a positive note. The United Kingdom's FTSE benchmark index was last seen trading 0.77 per cent higher. Among other benchmarks, Germany's DAX index was up 0.45 per cent but France's CAC was down 0.09 per cent, following a positive start.
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.
(With inputs from agencies)
