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The benchmark equity market indices on the BSE and National Stock Exchange (NSE) settled a little over 2 per cent higher on Wednesday, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of a Rs 20 lakh crore economic package to help cushion the COVID-19 economic impact, led by gains in banking and financial sectors.
The S&P BSE Sensex rose 637.49 points (2.03 per cent) to end the day at 32,008.61, while the Nifty 50 settled at 9,383.55, up 187.00 points (2.03 per cent). Both the indices had opened nearly 4 per cent higher earlier in the day but pared some of their early gains in afternoon deals.
On Tuesday evening, PM Modi announced that India’s combined economic package would be worth Rs 20 lakh crore or 10 per cent of GDP, which would make India self-reliant and position it for the post-COVID-19 world.
“The package built on reforms relating to land, labour, liquidity and laws indicate that it aims to convert the present crisis into an opportunity to build a self-reliant India. The package and the highly confident and stimulating articulation will be a major morale boost for the markets,” V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services said in a statement.
Going ahead, market participants will look forward to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s press conference at 4 pm for further cues on disbursement of Rs 20 lakh crore package.
On the Sensex, Axis Bank, Ultratech Cement, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), ICICI Bank, State Bank of India (SBI) and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) were the top gainers on Wednesday. However, Nestle India, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Bharti Airtel and Hindustan Unilever (HUL) ended lower. (see heatmap below)
All the sectoral indices on NSE except Nifty Pharma and Nifty FMCG ended higher on Wednesday. The key Nifty Bank index rose 4.09 per cent led by Bandhan Bank, IDFC First Bank and Bank of Baroda. Apart from this, the Nifty Financial Services index rose 3.35 per cent led by Indiabulls Housing Finance and REC.
Here’s how the sectoral indices performed:
“The focus now shifts to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s press conference at 4 P.M. where she will divulge details of the Rs 20 lakh crore relief package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday,” Deepak Jasani, Head – Retail Research at HDFC Securities said in a statement after the market hours.
The rupee appreciated by 5 paise to 75.46 against the US dollar on Wednesday as fiscal stimulus by the government bolstered investor sentiment, news agency PTI reported.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened on a strong note at 75.31, but during the day the domestic unit lost most of its gains and finally settled at 75.46 against the greenback, registering a rise of 5 paise over its previous close. During the trading session the domestic currency witnessed an intra-day high of 75.30 and a low of 75.50. On Tuesday, the local unit had settled at 75.51 against the US currency.
