Domestic equity indices were trading in the green on Thursday with BSE Sensex nearing the 50,000-level while the broader Nifty traded above 14,900. At 10:11am, Sensex went up 138.48 points or 0.28% to trade at 49,872.32 and the Nifty was trading 59.15 points or 0.40% higher at 14,923.70.
IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank were among the top gainers on the Sensex pack while gains on Nifty were led by Bajaj Finance.
The rally in the equity market comes despite the rising cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the country. India’s total infection tally surged past 18 million on Thursday with a record spike of over 379,257 cases and 3,645 fatalities, according to the Union ministry of health and family welfare. "We expect markets to look beyond the short term on cases peaking, vaccine approvals/expansion," BofA research analyst Amish Shah was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters on Wednesday.
V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, told PTI that the favourable global market scenario is playing an important role in this vaccine-powered hope trade. “The US Federal Reserve meet, as expected, has kept rates and the bond-buying program unchanged, reiterating the accommodative stance. Sustained bond-buying has the risk of higher asset price inflation in the market,” he said, adding that the local lockdowns have not impacted industrial activity a lot.
In the previous session on Wednesday, the 30-share BSE Sensex surged 789.70 points or 1.61% to finish at 49,733.84 and NSE Nifty closed 211.50 points or 1.44% higher at 14,864.55.
{{/usCountry}}In the previous session on Wednesday, the 30-share BSE Sensex surged 789.70 points or 1.61% to finish at 49,733.84 and NSE Nifty closed 211.50 points or 1.44% higher at 14,864.55.
{{/usCountry}}As markets ended on a high note for three days in a row on Wednesday, Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services "Superior Q4 results and vaccine optimism buoyed domestic markets to trade on a positive footing for the third consecutive day ahead of the US Federal Reserve interest rate decision,” according to PTI.
Other Asian shares were also higher after the US Federal Reserve said it was too early to consider rolling back emergency support for the economy, and as US president Joe Biden unveiled plans for a $1.8 trillion stimulus package.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.33% higher at $67 per barrel.