Nifty, Sensex rise after plans to ease air travel curbs

Sensex up by 150 points, Nifty at 9,079 in early trade

Indian shares rose on Thursday after encouraging corporate earnings reports and as the government said it plans to ease curbs on air travel, in a further relaxation of a weeks-long coronavirus lockdown that has bruised the economy.

Sensex falls 24 points, Nifty at 9,079 in opening trade(PTI)

The NSE Nifty 50 index was up 0.39% at 9,101.10 by 0400 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex was 0.36% higher at 30,929.03.

Shares in Interglobe Aviation Ltd, which runs India’s largest airline IndiGo, jumped 7.6%, while second-biggest carrier SpiceJet climbed 4.9% after India announced a resumption of some domestic flights from May 25.

IndiGo was the top gainer on the Nifty 100 .

Better-than-expected March-quarter results from Bajaj Auto Ltd made the stock the top gainer on the Nifty 50 with a 5.8% rise.

Meanwhile, ICRA late on Wednesday sharply lowered its forecast for India’s gross domestic product in 2020-21, projecting a 5% fall, deeper than its earlier estimate of a 1%-2% decline. ICRA is a local unit of ratings agency Moody’s.