Stock markets up for second day in a row; US aid on vaccine raw material helps

At 10.15am, the benchmark Sensex was up 0.6% at 48661 points while Nifty gained 0.57% to 14568 points.Premium
At 10.15am, the benchmark Sensex was up 0.6% at 48661 points while Nifty gained 0.57% to 14568 points.
 2 min read . Updated: 27 Apr 2021, 10:34 AM IST Ravindra N. Sonavane

MUMBAI: Indian stocks markets rose for the second straight day on Tuesday amid a slow down in daily covid case additions cases in Maharashtra. Assurance from the US to provide raw material for covid vaccine also boosted investor sentiments.

At 10.15am, the benchmark Sensex was up 0.6% at 48661 points while Nifty gained 0.57% to 14568 points.

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Maharashtra reported 48,700 fresh infections over the last 24 hours, 71,736 discharges and 524 deaths. The case tally now stands at 43,43,727, including 6,74,770 active cases and 36,01,796 discharges.

For the third day in a row, Mumbai reported less than 6,000 daily case additions. With of 3,876 new cases, the maximum city has a total of 6,31,527 cases.

In another development, Maharashtra crossed a milestone after it vaccinated over 5 lakh people in a day. The chief minister's office said very soon the state will vaccinate 1.5 crore of its citizens.

"Domestic equities look to be modestly good as of now. A persistent rise in COVID-19 cases across the nation and enhanced economic restrictions have dented investors sentiments over last couple of weeks. However, lower than 3.5 lakhs daily caseload at India level and sharp reduction in fresh caseload in Maharashtra yesterday offer some comfort and a further reversal in caseload should augur well for economy and markets," said Binod Modi, Head Strategy at Reliance Securities.

"In our view, government will continue to handle this disaster by maintaining a fair balance between lives and livelihoods. Market is expected to remain volatile until we see a clear reversal in COVID-19 cases. Notably, enhanced economic restrictions imposed by states and government’s continued focus to increase supply of vaccines and allowing vaccines at private hospitals should be able to check spread of coronavirus in coming weeks," Modi added.

Despite putting enhanced mobility restrictions, manufacturing and infrastructure activities have not come to a halt yet and companies appear to be proactive this time, convincing workers to stay back by offering basic amenities and facilities. Therefore, a large economic damage like last year is unlikely to happen, analyst expects.

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"Market would continuously watch out for government’s course of action along with progress on vaccination drive in order to curb pandemic. Investors would also keep an eye on management commentaries in the their post result concalls, given the current situation", said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a telephone conversation with President Joe Biden last evening, the day after the US said it would send raw material for the Covishield vaccine.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have assured India and its people of providing all assistance, including urgently sending necessary medical lifesaving supplies and equipment, to help the country combat the deadly coronavirus crisis.

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