Nifty 50, Sensex fail to hold gains; auto, FMCG stocks rise
The Nifty 50 closed 0.11% lower, settling at 23,727, while the Sensex ended with a minor 0.09% drop at 78,472.
After a day of volatile trading benchmark indices snapped its four-day losing streak and rallied over 1,627 points on Friday in line with global stocks as governments across the world took drastic measures to combat the economic blowback of COVID-19.
Sentiments in domestic market tuners positive on hopes of a stimulus package after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a financial task force to help sectors battered by the pandemic, experts said.
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After hitting a high of 30,418.20 and a low of 27,932.67 the BSE barometer ended 1,627.73 points higher at 29,915.96.
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Similarly, the NSE Nifty zoomed 482 points to close at 8,745.45.
The top gainers in the Sensex pack were led by ONGC followed by HUL, UltraTech Cement, RIL, TCS, HDFC, ITC and Asian Paints.
Modi on Thursday announced setting up of a task force under Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman which will take necessary actions “in the near future” after analysing the coronavirus pandemic situation.
As per the health ministry’s data, Covid-19 cases in India rose to 195 on Friday after 22 fresh cases were reported from various parts of the country.
Experts were of the view that the Covid-19 task force may come out with concrete proposals very soon.
World over, market sentiments improved as governments stepped up measures to cushion the financial blow of the pandemic, experts said.
Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul closed up to 7 per cent higher. Stock exchanges in Europe too rallied up to 5 per cent.
Meanwhile, the rupee appreciated 6 paise to 74.72 against US dollar intra-day.
Global oil benchmark, Brent crude futures rose over 8.18 per cent to USD 30.80 per barrel.
Globally, the death toll from the virus has risen to almost 10,000 with more than 2,32,000 cases in 158 countries and territories.
(With input from agencies)
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