Markets zoom after 7 day falling streak

Mumbai: Snapping its seven-day falling streak, BSE Sensex rallied 480 points on Tuesday in line with gains in global stocks after central banks assured of policy measures to mitigate the economic impact of coronavirus outbreak.

After a highly volatile session, the 30-share benchmark index surged 479.68 points or 1.26 per cent to end at 38,623.70 with 28 of its constituents ending in green. The broader NSE Nifty jumped 170.55 points or 1.53 per cent to close at 11,303.30 led by gains in metal and pharma stocks.

Among Sensex stocks, Sun Pharma rose the most by 6.64 per cent amid export restrictions imposed by the government on 26 pharma ingredients and medicines to boost local supplies. Tata Steel, ONGC, UltraTech Cement, NTPC, PowerGrid, Reliance, Kotak Bank and HCL Tech were among the major gainers. On the other hand, ITC and HDFC Bank ended in the red.

Domestic market sentiment got a boost after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it was ready to take necessary action to ensure orderly functioning of financial markets. "Globally, financial markets have been experiencing considerable volatility, with the spread of the coronavirus triggering risk-off sentiments and flights to safe haven," the RBI said in a statement. Spillovers to financial markets in India have largely been contained.

Growing hopes of coordinated policy action to mitigate a broader fallout to economic activity has boosted market sentiment today, it said. "Comments by central bank officials over possible policy initiatives to curtail economic impact held markets positive across the globe. Broad-based momentum was witnessed in metals and pharma while the strong dollar held IT stocks higher. With nations across the globe taking precautions over the virus, further long-term economic impact looks minimal," Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said.

Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices rallied up to 1.75 per cent. All the sectoral indices closed in green with BSE Metal rising the most by 5.67 per cent following gains in Tata Steel and Vedanta Ltd. BSE Power jumped 3.99 per cent led by gains in NTPC and Powergrid.