COVID-19 vaccine hopes cheer markets, Sensex touches four-month high

Equity parameters continued their upward swing on Tuesday with heavy buying seen in several sectors promising results in early trials of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate cheered markets globally.

The BSE S&P Sensex closed 511.34 points or 1.37% higher at 37,930.33 while Nifty ticked up by 140.05 points or 1.27% at 11,162.25. 

This is the highest closing for both the benchmarks since March 5.

PowerGrid was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, gaining 6.14%, followed by Maruti, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Kotak Bank and Axis Bank. Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Asian Paints and Sun Pharma were among the laggards. 

Except for Nifty pharma which dipped by 1.4% and FMCG which was down by 0.8%, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green with Nifty PSU bank, private bank and finance service up by 2% each.

Among stocks, energy majors were the flavour of the day with Power Grid Corporation advancing by 6.4% to Rs 174 per share, IndianOil Corporation by 5.6%, Bharat Petroleum Corporation by 5.4% and GAIL by 3.7%.

ICICI Bank moved up by 4.3% and Kotak Mahindra Bank by 3.2% while Eicher Motors, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors surged ahead by 5.3%, 4.2% and 2.9%.

Home loan lender HDFC witnessed a gain of 4.4% to close at Rs 1,887 per share. But Bajaj Finance closed 4% lower at Rs 3,304 per share after the company said that Chairman Rahul Bajaj has decided to step down by the end of this month to pave way for his son Sanjiv.

The other prominent losers included Britannia, Asian Paints, Bharti Infratel, Cipla, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy`s and Mahindra & Mahindra.

Global equities rallied led by positive trial results of three coronavirus vaccines, Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd said. 

"Further the sentiments were also lifted by reports that the European Union leaders have approved a massive stimulus package to counter the economic impact of coronavirus. Thus the near term momentum looks positive. Technically too, Nifty has been respecting to its rising support trend line and holding above its 200 DEMA," he said. 

"Nifty can extend its momentum towards 11250-11300 and higher. However, we would advise traders to be cautious, as the on ground realties remain unchanged. On the other hand we would advise investors to continue with their defensive portfolio approach given the high valuations and maintain stock specific approach” Khemka said. 

Meanwhile, Asian shares rose as European Union leaders signed a deal to jointly fund the recovery of their economies and hopes for a coronavirus vaccine lifted risk appetite.

Japan`s Nikkei rose by 0.73% while Hong Kong`s Hang Seng spurted by 2.31% and South Korea`s Kospi by 1.39%.