Sensex Rises Over 700 Points, Nifty Touches 9,200 Tracking Global Markets

Domestic stock markets started Wednesday's session on a positive note, tracking gains in global peers, as India entered an extended nationwide lockdown to fight the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The S&P BSE Sensex index climbed to as high as 31,400.36, up 710.34 points from the previous close, after starting the day up 587.09 points at 31,277.11. The broader NSE Nifty benchmark added 205.65 points to touch 9,199.50 at the strongest level in early trade, after opening at 9,196.40. Gains across most sectors - led by banking, pharmaceutical and metal shares - supported the markets.

At 9:17 am, the Sensex traded 565.04 points - or 1.84 per cent - higher at 31,255.06, and the Nifty was up 160.05 points - or 1.78 per cent - at 9,153.90. 

In the 50-scrip Nifty index, 47 shares moved higher at the time. Top percentage gainers were UPL, Hindalco, ICICI Bank, Shree Cement, Asian Paints and Dr Reddy's, trading between 2.44 per cent and 3.72 per cent higher.

Reliance Industries (up 2.73 per cent), ICICI Bank (3.97 per cent) and HDFC (1.67 per cent) together accounted for a gain of more than 200 points in the Sensex.

However, analysts say volatility cannot be ruled out as investors assess the severity of the rapidly-spreading COVID-19 disease.

Asian shares paused at one-month highs on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei eased 0.5 per cent, though that followed a 3 per cent jump in the previous session. Likewise, E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 dipped 0.6 per cent.

Overnight in the US, stocks jumped on Tuesday on optimism that the Donald Trump administration could move to ease lockdowns from the coronavirus outbreak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite indices ended 2.39 per cent, 3.06 per cent and 3.95 per cent higher respectively.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) slashed growth forecast for India, projecting a GDP growth of 1.9 per cent in 2020. This comes at a time when the global economy has hit the worst recession as a result of the collapse in economic activity due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

Consumer inflation in the country slowed to a four-month low of 5.91 per cent in March and came back to the RBI's comfort zone, mainly due to easing prices of kitchen essentials like vegetables, eggs and meat.

Wipro shares will be in focus today as the IT major is scheduled to report its financial results for the quarter ended March 31.

On Monday, the Sensex had ended 469.60 points lower at 30,690.02, and the Nifty at 8,993.85, down 118.05 points from the previous close.