Markets open in green: Sensex jumps over 600 points, Nifty above 9,100-mark; RIL, ICICI Bank, L&T rally

The stock markets resumed trading after it was shut down on 14 April for Ambedkar Jayanti on a positive note. Shares rose on a rally in heavyweight bank and energy stocks, in line with an overnight rise in US markets, even as the country went into an extended lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The NSE Nifty 50 index rose 1.7 percent to 9,150.8 while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was up 1.77 percent at 31,236.27, Reuters said. The government extended a lockdown on its 1.3 billion people until at least 3 May on Tuesday, as the number of coronavirus cases exceeded 10,000. Sensex jumped over 600 points in opening trade on Wednesday tracking gains in index-heavyweights Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and L&T even as concerns over coronavirus-led economic blow mounted. After hitting a high of 31,400.36, the 30-share index was trading 639.83 points or 2.08 per cent higher at 31,329.85. Similarly, the NSE Nifty was quoting 187.20 points, or 2.08 per cent, up at 9,181.05. Sun Pharma was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying up to 5 percent, followed by L&T, HUL, Axis Bank, UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank, PTI said. Reliance Industries jumped nearly 3 percent after the company said it will raise Rs 9,000 crore through an NCD sale this week to refinance the existing high-cost rupee debt. [caption id=“attachment_6669071” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representative image. Reuters[/caption] On the other hand, ONGC, Maruti, Kotak Bank and Titan were the laggards. In the previous session on Monday, the BSE barometer ended 469.60 points or 1.51 per cent lower at 30,690.02, while the Nifty dropped 118.05 points or 1.30 per cent to 8,993.85. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were net buyers in the capital market in the last trading session, as they bought equity shares worth Rs 1,243.74 crore, according to provisional exchange data. The government, after market hours on Monday, notified Mauritius as an “eligible country”, enabling its investment entities to register as Category-I FPIs with lower KYC requirements. Experts said that considering the size of investment in Indian capital market by overseas entities from Mauritius, this is a welcome move. According to traders, positive cues on the FPI front and stock-specific action pulled the market higher. However, concerns over the spike in Covid-19 cases and an extension in the nationwide lockdown in the country kept investors cautious. The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 377 while the number of cases in the country climbed to 11,439 on Wednesday, according to the Union Health Ministry. The global tally of the infections has crossed 19 lakh, with over 1.2 lakh deaths. Meanwhile, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo were in the red. Stock exchanges on Wall Street ended significantly higher in overnight trade. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.35 per cent to $30 per barrel. --With inputs from agencies