Sensex jumps over 600 points with RIL, ICICI and L&T as the biggest gainers

• The 30-share index was trading 639.83 points or 2.08% higher at 31,329.85.
  
• The NSE Nifty was quoting 187.20 points, or 2.08%, up at 9,181.05.

Equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 600 points in opening trade on Wednesday tracking gains in index-heavyweights Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and L&T even as concerns over coronavirus-led economic blow mounted.

After hitting a high of 31,400.36, the 30-share index was trading 639.83 points or 2.08% higher at 31,329.85.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty was quoting 187.20 points, or 2.08%, up at 9,181.05.

Sun Pharma was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying up to 5%, followed by L&T, HUL, Axis Bank, UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank.

Reliance Industries jumped nearly 3 per cent after the company said it will raise ₹9,000 crore through an NCD sale this week to refinance the existing high-cost rupee debt.

On the other hand, ONGC, Maruti, Kotak Bank and Titan were the laggards.

In the previous session on Monday, the BSE barometer ended 469.60 points or 1.51 per cent lower at 30,690.02, while the Nifty dropped 118.05 points or 1.30 per cent to 8,993.85. Market remained closed on Tuesday for Ambedkar Jayanti.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were net buyers in the capital market in the last trading session, as they bought equity shares worth Rs 1,243.74 crore, according to provisional exchange data.

The government, after market hours on Monday, notified Mauritius as an "eligible country", enabling its investment entities to register as Category-I FPIs with lower KYC requirements.

Experts said that considering the size of investment in Indian capital market by overseas entities from Mauritius, this is a welcome move.

According to traders, positive cues on the FPI front and stock-specific action pulled the market higher. However, concerns over the spike in Covid-19 cases and an extension in the nationwide lockdown in the country kept investors cautious.

Global Cues

On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 558.99 points, or 2.39%, to 23,949.76. The S&P 500 was up 84.43 (April 14), or 3.06%, to 2,846.06. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 323.32 points, or 3.95%, to 8,515.74.

Shares of US tech giants such as Apple, Amazon and Google-parent Alphabet closed noticeably higher, contributing to the market rally.

Shares of Johnson & Johnson climbed 4.48% after the drug and consumer health company reported better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter.

JPMorgan Chase stock gave up earlier gains to end 2.74% lower. The US bank titan on Tuesday posted a big decline in first-quarter earnings from the coronavirus.

Analysts expect S&P 500 earnings growth to decline 10.2% in the first quarter year over year, according to data from Refinitiv.

Investors also paid close attention to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projection on global economy.

The global economy is on track to contract "sharply" by 3 per cent in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, much worse than during the 2008-09 financial crisis, according to IMF's World Economic Outlook released Tuesday.

Meanwhile, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo were in the red.

Stock exchanges on Wall Street ended significantly higher in overnight trade.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.35 per cent to USD 30 per barrel.

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