Sensex rebounds over 5,000 points from day's low, Nifty up over 1,400 points to reclaim 10,000-mark; SBI, Sun Pharma among top gainers

Equity benchmark Sensex rebounded over 5,000 points from the day’s lows and the broader Nifty reclaimed the 10,000 level in afternoon session on Friday as investors scrambled to buy stocks at hammered valuations. Recovering from an intra-day low of 29,388.97, the BSE-share index was trading 1670.83 points or 5.10 percent higher at 34,448.97 at 1340 hours. Similarly, the NSE Nifty was trading 452.70 points, or 4.72 percent, up at 10,042.85. Nifty recovered over 1,400 points from its low of 8555.15.

In opening session, both indices plunged over 10 percent, hitting their lower circuit levels, as new coronavirus-led recession fears triggered panic selling in the market. Stock exchanges had halted trading for 45 minutes within 15 minutes for market opening. Normal trading resumed around 1030 hours. “Last time we had a circuit freeze and halt to trading on 22 January, 2008, when the Sensex had its biggest loss (till then) of 1,408 points,” VK Vijaykumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. SBI was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying up nearly 15 percent, followed by Sun Pharma, HDFC, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, Maruti, ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel. [caption id=“attachment_7138411” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] On the other hand, Nestle India, Asian Paints, and Mahindra and Mahindra were trading up to 1.46 percent lower. According to market participants, volatility heightened in global markets as benchmarks world over went into panic mode, insinuating a manic selloff. Mild recovery was seen in other Asian bourses too with Shanghai down 1.23 percent, Hong Kong 2.60 percent, Seoul 6.08 percent and Tokyo 3.43 percent. The rupee too witnessed a sharp recovery, appreciating 36 paise at 73.92 per US dollar (intra-day). Brent crude oil futures surged 3.25 percent to $34.42 per barrel. Around 130,000 cases of the new coronavirus or COVID-19 have been recorded in 116 countries and territories, killing at least 4,900 people. The total number of confirmed cases in India stood at 75, including 17 foreigners, as per health ministry officials. (With PTI inputs)