Sensex soars 789 pts, Nifty tops 14,850 as financial stocks shine

Extending its gains for the third straight session, equity benchmark Sensex rallied 789 points on Wednesday, led by gains in financial stocks amid a positive trend in global markets. At close, Sensex jumped 789 points or 1.61% higher at 49,733. Similarly, the broader Nifty surged 211 points or 1.44% to 14,864.

Bajaj Finance was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, soaring around 8 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, SBI, Bajaj Auto and HDFC Bank. On the other hand, Nestle India, HCL Tech, L&T, Dr Reddy’s and TCS were among the laggards.

“Superior Q4 results and vaccine optimism buoyed domestic markets to trade on a positive footing for the third consecutive day ahead of the US Federal Reserve interest rate decision,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Strong buying interest was seen in banking and auto stocks with enhanced business prospects which is likely to be maintained, he added.

Further, short-covering ahead of derivatives expiry also contributed recent rally, analysts said.

Sectorally, the Nifty Bank index soared 3%, Nifty Auto index surged 1.68% and Nifty IT & Nifty FMCG indices rose up to 0.57%. On the contrary, the Nifty Realty index dropped 0.6%. That apart, the Nifty Metal and Nifty Pharma indices slipped 0.3%.

Economy:

The Indian economy is projected to grow at 11% in the current financial year amid the strong vaccine drive, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Wednesday, while cautioning that the recent surge in COVID-19 cases may put the country’s economic recovery at risk. India’s economy is expected to grow 11 per cent in fiscal year (FY) 2021, which ends on March 31, 2022, amid a strong vaccine drive, ADB said in its flagship Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2021 released on Wednesday.

However, ADB cautioned that the surge in COVID-19 cases may put the country’s economic recovery at risk. For FY2022, India’s GDP is expected to expand at 7%, it added. Further, it said the gross domestic product (GDP) of South Asia is expected to rebound to 9.5% this year, following a contraction of 6% in 2020, before moderating to 6.6% next year (2022), it said.

Global markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia advanced on Wednesday ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s policy decision. Japan’s retail sales rose 5.2% in March as compared with a year ago, according to government data.

In US, the S&P 500 closed little changed near its record level on Tuesday as investors braced for a big batch of tech earnings. The Federal Reserve kicked off its two-day policy meeting Tuesday. The central bank is likely to hold and keep its asset-buying program in place at the same levels for the rest of 2021, despite growing concerns about an overheating economy.

Consumer confidence climbed sharply to hit a pandemic high with The Conference Board’s index jumping to 121.7, the highest since February 2020.

(With inputs from agencies.)