Markets close on positive note: Sensex rises over 222 points buoyed by gains in finance, energy, power stocks; Nifty settles near 9,000-mark

The market benchmark opened on a weak note tracking weak cues from global market. Poor retail, manufacturing and home building data weighed on investor concerns. However market sentiment got some support after report of easing coronavirus cases in European region. Sensex recovered and ended with a gain of 0.9 percent. Sectorially, auto indices made a smart recovery in today’s session from lows. Barring FMCG and IT, all indices ended in green. Banking, metal and pharma indices witnessed buying in today’s session. The benchmark top gainers were Vedanta, NTPC, ICICI Bank and Hindalco. Investors will keep a close eye on the resumption of industrial activities post-20th April and impact of coronavirus. Sumeet Bagadia, Executive Director, Choice Broking said, “After a negative opening on back of global cues, the index tried to recover its early losses and gave a sudden spurt on back of its large constituents. Moreover, most of the time of the 1st half, the index traded in a range bound move, though after giving a breakout of the same, we saw a high near to 9090 level. During the trading session, we saw a good move in BankNifty compared to Nifty and settled with the gain of 2.30 percent. At present level, the index has good support at 8800 while upside resistance comes at 9100, if the Index sustains above 9100 then we may see an upside movement up to the level of 9300.” The Sensex rose over 222 points on Thursday, buoyed by gains in finance, energy and power stocks despite weak cues from global markets. After swinging 784 points intra-day, the 30-share index settled 222.80 points or 0.73 per cent higher at 30,602.61. Similarly, the NSE Nifty ended 67.50 points, or 0.76 per cent, up at 8,992.80. [caption id=“attachment_4419583” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representative image. Reuters.[/caption] NTPC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying nearly 6 percent, followed by ICICI Bank, Titan, L&T, SBI, Sun Pharma and Nestle India. On the other hand, HCL Tech, Kotak Bank, Tech Mahindra, Hero MotoCorp and Infosys were among the laggards. Deepak Jasani, Head Of Research, HDFC Securities said: “Indian markets ended higher on Thursday after two day correction. The Nifty gained 67.5 points or 0.76% to close at 8,992.8. Gains were led by financials which had come under pressure on Wednesday. India VIX fell 7 percent to 46.1, the lowest in more than a month. “Asian markets fell triggered by a start warning by IMF that Asia will register zero growth (worst growth performance in almost 60 years) this year because of the coronavirus. European markets however inched up as nations across the continent moved towards cutting lockdown measures to restart their flagging economies. “Technically, with the Nifty bouncing back, traders will need to watch if the Nifty can now hold above the immediate supports of 8961-8874; else a further correction is likely that could take the Nifty towards the 13 day simple moving average support at 8554,” Jasani said. Domestic market opened on a softer note tracking mixed global cues as virus concerns continued to weigh on sentiment, said Narendra Solanki, Head- Equity Research (Fundamental), Anand Rathi told PTI. During the afternoon session, market gained positive traction as traders and investors were seen accumulating some large cap stocks, he noted. Further, with the start of earnings season, the IT sector remained lacklustre during the day as commentary from Wipro failed to provide future clarity on COVID-19 impact while participants eyed TCS results later in the day, Solanki added. On the currency front, the rupee tanked 43 paise to settle at a fresh all-time low of 76.87 (provisional) against the US dollar. The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 414, while the number of cases in the country climbed to 12,380. The global tally of the infections has crossed 20 lakh, with over 1.37 lakh deaths. Meanwhile, bourses in Shanghai ended on a positive note, while those in Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo closed in the red. Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a mixed note. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 2.28 percent to $28.32 per barrel.