Equity markets were trading firm on Thursday after Wall Street’s overnight rally on hope that the coronavirus outbreak in the United States was close to a peak
Among headline indices, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 570 points, or 1.95 per cent, at 30,440 and the Nifty50 index hovered around 8,920 level, up 175 points, or 2 per cent. Index heavyweight HDFC, up 5 per cent, was the top contributor to the Sensex’s gain. Besides, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, and ONGC were all up over 4 per cent.
All the Nifty sectoral indices were in the green, led by Nifty Auto index, up 7 per cent. Besides, Nifty Pharma index gained 5 per cent. Among the index’s components, Cipla (up 15%) and Lupin (up 10%) were the top gainers.
The broader market also tracked gains in the main indices. The S&P BSE MidCap and SmallCap indexes were both up over 2.5 per cent each.
Gold-backed exchange traded funds (ETFs) witnessed a net inflow of $23 billion, or 298 tonnes (t), in the January – March 2020 quarter across all regions, suggests the latest data from World Gold Council (WGC).
This is the highest quarterly amount ever in absolute US dollar terms and the largest tonnage additions since 2016.
“During the past year, gold ETFs added 659 tonnes, the highest on a rolling annual basis since the financial crisis, with assets under management (AUM) growing 57 per cent over the same period,” WGC said.
