Daily Covid Dip Pushes Markets Up

The market opened on a positive note on May 28 because of a slip in fresh Covid-19 cases and favourable global market cues. 

The equity benchmark Sensex rose nearly 300 points in early trade on Friday, led by increases in index majors Reliance Industries, the HDFC twins, and ICICI Bank.

The continued fall in Covid cases and higher crude prices caused the Indian currency, rupee, to increase by 18 paise to 72.42 against the US dollar in early trade.

The 30-share BSE index gained 306.57 points or 0.60 per cent at 51,421.79, and the broader NSE Nifty traded higher by 101.15 points or 0.66 per cent at 15,439.

ONGC led the Sensex pack with the most gains, climbing over 3 per cent, followed by Reliance Industries, SBI, IndusInd Bank, HDFC, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank.

Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy’s, M&M, Bajaj Auto, and Nestle India were among the losers.

Sensex ended 97.70 points or 0.19 per cent higher at 51,115.22 in the last session and Nifty rose 36.40 points or 0.24 per cent to 15,337.85.

As per the provisional exchange data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 660.90 crore.

According to V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, the best news for the economy and markets is coming from the Covid data which has shown a dip in fresh cases to 1.75 lakhs during the last 24 hours.

"This will certainly pave the way for the progressive removal of restrictions on economic activity," he said.

According to the government data, India registered a single-day rise of 1,86,364 Covid-19 infections and 3,660 deaths on Friday. This takes the tally of active cases to 23,43,152.

Global cues are strong, with job growth in the US economy, indicating a sharp economic rebound.

In the overnight session, Wall Street equities concluded with gains.

In other parts of Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Tokyo traded higher in mid-session deals.

Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, was trading 0.39 per cent higher at $69.47 per barrel.