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Sensex crosses 43,000, Nifty hits record high on vaccine cheer
The S&P BSE Sensex was up 212.75 points or 0.50% to 42,810.18 in opening session while the NSE Nifty 50 index was at 8,889.15 up 0.11%. In the pre-opening session, Sensex rose 318 points and Nifty had topped 12,556.
Domestic stock indices hit record highs on Tuesday as progress in the development of a coronavirus vaccine raised hopes of a global economic recovery and helped airline and hotels stocks that have been hammered by the pandemic.
The S&P BSE Sensex gained 400 points and breached the 43,000 level for the first time. The broader Nifty50 index also reached the 12,550-mark. Bajaj Finance up 6%, IndusInd Bank up 5%, and State Bank of India up 4% were the top Sensex gainers.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.12% higher on news that Pfizer Inc’s experimental Covid-19 vaccine showed over 90% effectiveness based on initial trial results. The US drugmaker’s Indian arm Pfizer Ltd gained as much as 19.8% during the session.
“The vaccine news is a big relief for markets and investors are hoping that the economic recovery will take place sooner,” Samrat Dasgupta, chief executive officer at Esquire Capital Investment Advisors, told Reuters. “However, the next six months will be crucial as we see more developments on the vaccine,” he added.
Stocks of IndiGo owner InterGlobe Aviation rose 5.3%, while hotel operators EIH Ltd and Lemon Tree jumped more than 5% each.
Among other sectors, the Nifty Bank index and the financials index climbed 2.4% each, rising for a seventh consecutive session. The Nifty IT index was the top drag among sectors and fell 2.8%. Tech Mahindra slid about 4%, while Infosys and HCL Technologies slipped around 3% each.
Sensex was up 212.75 points or 0.50% to 42,810.18 in opening session while the NSE Nifty 50 index was at 8,889.15 up 0.11%. In the pre-opening session, Sensex rose 318 points and Nifty had topped 12,556.
On Monday, domestic markets had closed at a record high as Democrat Joe Biden’s win in the US presidential election led to a weaker dollar, fuelling hopes for more fund inflows into emerging markets, with domestic IT stocks gaining after a report said the president-elect planned to ease policy on work visas.
The Nifty closed up 1.61% and the Sensex index ended 1.68% higher. Both the indexes rose to all-time highs during the session, scaling 42,645.33 and 12,474.05, respectively. The dollar hit a 10-week low on Monday as investors heralded Joe Biden’s election as US president, raising expectations that a calmer White House could boost global trade and foster easy monetary policy.
(With agency inputs)
