Sensex, Nifty hit four-month highs amid rising Covid-19 cases; here's why

Sensex and Nifty hit four-month highs in afternoon trade today even as India grappled to contain the rising number of coronavirus cases. While Sensex rose up to 640 points to 36,661, Nifty climbed 204 points to 10,811 in afternoon trade. On Sensex, M&M (5.85%), Bajaj Finance (4.10%), HDFC Bank (3.47%), Reliance Industries (3.38%) and IndusInd  Bank (3.12%) were the top gainers.

Of 30 Sensex stocks, 27 were trading in green. On Nifty, top gainers were M&M (6.67%), Hindalco (4.85%), Tata Motors (4.16%) and Bajaj Finance (4.04%).

Later, Sensex closed 465 points higher to 36,487 and Nifty gained 156 points to 10,763.

According to traders, domestic indices rallied on positive sentiment led by hopes of a COVID-19 vaccine, improving macroeconomic conditions and massive buying-interest in global benchmarks despite surging coronavirus cases across the world. Positive data including manufacturing activity and car sales released last week indicated that the economy was coming back to normalcy, they said.

HDFC Bank share reclaims Rs 1,100 mark after four months; here's why

In the previous session, Sensex ended 177.72 points, or 0.50 per cent, higher at 36,021.42, and Nifty rose 55.65 points, or 0.53 per cent, to end at 10,607.35.

Benchmark indices gained on surge in Asian markets boosted by strong US markets on Friday. Shanghai Composite Index rose 4.8% to 3,302.59 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gained 1.8% to 22,716.17. Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 3.5% to 26,245.10. Kospi in Seoul rose 1.6% to 2,186.45 while Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 lost 0.3% to 6,040.40.

Back home, India reported a spike of 24,248 new COVID-19 cases and 425 deaths in the last 24 hours. Positive cases stood at 6,97,413, including 2,53,287 active cases, 4,24,433 recoveries and 19,693 deaths, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare data suggest.

HDFC Bank share price gained was among the top Sensex gainers after the private sector lender said its advances rose 21 percent year-on-year (YoY) in the April-June quarter to Rs 10,04,500 crore against Rs 8,29,700 crore in the year-ago period.

RIL share price hits all-time high, market capitalisation tops Rs 11.50 lakh crore

In Q4 FY20, advances stood at Rs 9,93,700 crore. Share of HDFC Bank was among the top Sensex gainers climbing 3.32% to Rs 1,109 compared to the previous close of Rs 1,074 on BSE.

Similarly, share of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) rose to its all-time high in early trade today after the Mukesh Ambani-led firm launched its video conferencing platform JioMeet to take on the likes of Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams.

Share Market Highlights: Sensex ends 465 points higher, Nifty at 10,763; M&M, HDFC Bank top gainers

Another factor that took the stock to all-time high is the firm attracting 12 investments in 11 weeks raising  Rs 1,17, 587.5 crore from leading global investors. The stock gained  up to 3.97% or Rs 71 to Rs 1,858 today against previous close of Rs 1787 on BSE.

The rise came a trading session after Intel Capital, investment arm of Intel Corporation said it would invest Rs 1,894.50 crore in Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore.

That led the market cap of RIL to climb to 11.74 lakh crore in afternoon session.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit said,"Market has continued its buoyancy supported by financial sector, auto and RIL. Banks are catching up, due to improvement in outlook, in expectation of a reopened economy leading to better asset quality and low in NPAs. Banks preview for Q1FY21 result has improved compared to thought earlier due to lending to corporates, MSMEs and reduction in cost.

Auto is also benefited by decent MoM data leading to improvement in near-term outlook. While heavyweight RIL supported the market which is benefited by good telecom demand shown by TRAI monthly data, a pleasant surprise post the Jio deal announcements leading to fall in debt. Mid & small caps are too maintaining their positive trend."

Meanwhile, BSE mid cap and small cap indices rose 172 and 167 points respectively in afternoon trade.

Auto stocks led the gains with BSE auto climbing 445 points to 16,262. BSE bankex index too rose 353 points to 25,148. Bank Nifty zoomed 341 points or 1.565% to 22,199.

Market breadth was positive with 1604 stocks rising against 1148 stocks falling on BSE. 179 stocks were unchanged.

Foreign institutional investors turned net buyers in the capital market on Friday, purchasing equities worth Rs 857.29 crore, provisional exchange data showed.