Stock markets open in green: Sensex rallies over 1,300 points, Nifty soars 348 points; IndusInd among top gainers

The markets opened on Tuesday with the Sensex rallying over 1,300 points in early trade led by gains in bank, IT and auto stocks amid recovery in global equities. The market was closed on Monday on account of Mahavir Jayanti. After hitting a high of 28,963.25, the 30-share BSE barometer was trading 1,127.57 points or 4.09 percent higher at 28,718.52. Similarly, the NSE Nifty soared 347.95 points, or 4.30 percent, to 8,431.75. IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging up to 15 percent, followed by Mahindra and Mahindra, HCL Tech, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Infosys. On the other hand, Bajaj Finance was the sole loser.

#CNBCTV18Market | Some midcap names gaining at this hour pic.twitter.com/Du1EPAsd1U

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In the previous session on Friday, the 30-share BSE barometer ended 674.36 points or 2.39 per cent lower at 27,590.95 and the NSE Nifty shed 170 points, or 2.06 per cent, to finish at 8,083.80. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market, as they offloaded equity shares worth Rs 1,960.97 crore, according to provisional exchange data. Despite concerns over rising coronavirus cases in the country, domestic equities took positive cues from global stocks and turned positive, traders said. Rupee opens strong The Indian rupee appreciated by 26 paise to 75.87 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday tracking positive opening in domestic equities. Forex traders said higher opening in domestic equities supported the local unit, while sustained foreign fund outflows and concerns over coronavirus outbreak weighed on the local unit, PTI said. At the interbank foreign exchange the rupee opened at 75.92, then gained ground and touched 75.87, registering a rise of 26 paise over its previous close. [caption id=“attachment_5678251” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] On Friday, rupee had settled at 76.13 against the US dollar. The forex market was closed on Monday on account of Mahavir Jayanti. Traders said investor sentiments remain fragile amid concerns over the impact of coronavirus outbreak on the domestic as well as global economy. The number of deaths around the world linked to the new coronavirus has crossed over 74,000. In India, over 4,400 coronavirus cases have been reported so far. Meanwhile, domestic bourses opened on a positive note on Tuesday with benchmark indices Sensex trading 1127.33 points higher at 28,718.28 and Nifty up by 344.95 points at 8,428.75. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, as they sold equity shares worth Rs 1,960.97 crore on Friday, according to provisional exchange data. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 2.90 per cent to USD 34.01 per barrel. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against the basket of six currencies was trading 0.13 per cent down at 100.55. PTI The RBI has reduced the trading hours of debt as well as currency markets from Tuesday in view of the lockdown following the outbreak of coronavirus. The revised market timings will be effective during April 7-17, 2020, the central bank said in a circular on Friday. The market will open at 10 am instead of the current 9 am and closing timings too have been revised to 2 pm for all segments. The lockdown has adversely impacted the functioning of financial markets, the RBI said. The market timings have been revised in order to “minimise these risks” and to ensure that market participants maintain adequate checks and supervisory controls while optimising thin resources and ensuring safety of personnel, it said. As per the circular, timing of the Government Securities (Central Government Securities, State Development Loans and Treasury Bills) market has been revised to 10 am to 2 pm from the existing 9 am to 5 pm. Foreign Currency (FCY)/Indian Rupee (INR) Trades including Forex Derivatives market as well as Rupee Interest Rate Derivatives market too have been changed to 10 am to 2 pm from the existing 9 am to 5 pm. The RBI said the unprecedented situation created by the COVID-19 outbreak has necessitated lockdowns, social distancing, restrictions on movement of people and non-essential activities, work from home arrangements and business continuity plans. Asian stocks rally Asian stock markets rallied for a second day on Tuesday, and riskier currencies rose, buoyed by tentative signs the coronavirus crisis may be levelling off in New York and receding in Europe. Gains lacked Monday’s momentum, but were broad, even though global coronavirus cases kept rising and an economic crash on a scale not seen for generations looms large. The United States is bracing for its toughest week yet as the death toll climbs above 10,000 while across the Atlantic, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has entered intensive care after his COVID-19 symptoms worsened. Japan’s Nikkei rose 2 percent and has erased most of last week’s losses after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promised a massive $991 billion economic stimulus package - equal to 20 percent of GDP. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan pared early gains, but rose almost percent. US stock futures eased 0.2 percent following a 7 percent surge on Wall Street on Monday. Oil steadied and the risk-sensitive Australian dollar rose 0.5 percent. “The market is front running what it believes is a peak in the virus case count with Europe leading the way,” said Chris Weston, head of research at Melbourne brokerage Pepperstone. “You can almost smell the fear of missing out from active managers.” Worldwide there are 1.3 million cases and 70,395 deaths from COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus - rising even as swathes of the globe are under lockdown. Hope stems though from hardest-hit Italy and Spain, where authorities have started looking ahead to easing lockdowns after steady falls in coronavirus-related fatality rates. In New York, the number of deaths each day has also steadied while hospitalisations, admissions to intensive care and the number of patients put on ventilators all declined. Markets in Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong opened higher, then pared gains. Australia’s ASX 200 slipped into the red. ‘Peak death week’ Moves in the currency and bond markets were more muted, weighed by worries that lifting lockdowns too soon could drive a fresh wave of infections and caution about the economic fallout. The US dollar, which has soaked up safety flows for weeks, slipped on most majors. The Australian dollar hit $0.6122, its highest in a week, but traders lacked confidence. “It’s a long way short of a serious rally,” said Sean Callow, an FX analyst at Westpac in Sydney. “There is still so much bad news to absorb from the economy.” The New Zealand rose 0.6 percent to $0.5958, while the safe-haven yen firmed 0.4 percent to 108.75 per dollar. The United States has reported skyrocketing unemployment as lockdowns drive layoffs and is bracing for what one official called the “peak death week”. Roughly twice as many people a day are now dying in the United States as in Spain or Italy, and hospitals report chaotic shortages of beds, ventilators and protective gear. Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasuries nursed overnight losses, with yields steady at 0.6887 percent, having fallen almost 9 basis points on Monday. Gains lacked Monday’s momentum, but were broad, even though global coronavirus cases kept rising and an economic crash on a scale not seen for generations looms large. The United States is bracing for its toughest week yet as the death toll climbs above 10,000 while across the Atlantic, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has entered intensive care after his COVID-19 symptoms worsened. Japan’s Nikkei rose 2 percent and has erased most of last week’s losses after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promised a massive $991 billion economic stimulus package - equal to 20 percent of GDP. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan pared early gains, but rose almost 1 percent. US stock futures eased 0.2 percent following a 7 percent surge on Wall Street on Monday. Oil steadied and the risk-sensitive Australian dollar rose 0.5 percent. “The market is front running what it believes is a peak in the virus case count with Europe leading the way,” said Chris Weston, head of research at Melbourne brokerage Pepperstone. “You can almost smell the fear of missing out from active managers.” Worldwide there are 1.3 million cases and 70,395 deaths from COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus - rising even as swathes of the globe are under lockdown. Hope stems though from hardest-hit Italy and Spain, where authorities have started looking ahead to easing lockdowns after steady falls in coronavirus-related fatality rates. In New York, the number of deaths each day has also steadied while hospitalisations, admissions to intensive care and the number of patients put on ventilators all declined. Markets in Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong opened higher, then pared gains. Australia’s ASX 200 slipped into the red.   --With inputs from agencies