Equity markets were trading higher, lifted by banks and IT stocks, on Thursday ahead of the monthly derivative contracts expiry.
Investors were encouraged by reports that the US Senate has passed a $2 trillion coronavirus relief package while a separate report said the Indian government was likely to agree an economic stimulus package of more than Rs 1.5 trillion to fight the downturn caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
Frontline index S&P BSE Sensex was up 1300points, or 5.05 per cent, at 29,900 levels, and the Nifty50 index hovered around 8,620 level, up 301 points, or 3.62 per cent.
Among individual stocks, IndusInd Bank bucked its downtrend to surge 35 per cent intra-day. Besides, ICICI Bank and HDFC (both up 12 per cent) and HDFC Bank (up 8 per cent) were among the top contributors to Sensex’s up move.
All the Nifty sectoral indices were trading in the green, led by Nifty Private Bank index, up over 10 per cent. Nifty Bank index also rose 9 per cent.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index was up 3.8 per centand the S&P BSE SmallCap index surged 4.7 per cent.
Shares of IndusInd Bank rallied as much as 30% and was the top gainer on the Nifty 50 index. Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto and Bajaj Finance were the other top performers. Indian Oil Corporation, GAIL India, HCL Technologies, NTPC and ITC were the biggest laggards.
The US Senate has passed a stimulus package worth $2 trillion to mitigate the economic damage likely to be caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
