Reliance, Wipro lift stock market as hopes of Covid vaccine boost optimism

Indian shares gained almost 1% on Wednesday as hopes for the swift launch of Covid-19 vaccines lifted stock markets across Asia, while upbeat results for IT outsourcer Wipro and signs of new foreign investment inflows countered fears about the surge in domestic coronavirus cases.

India's most valuable stock Reliance Industries rose about 1.1% ahead of an annual general meeting due later in the day after Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that Alphabet Inc's Google was in advanced talks to invest $4 billion in the digital arm of the conglomerate.

Wipro rose 10%, topping the Nifty 50 blue-chip index, after reporting a better-than-expected profit for the three months ended June 30 along with the acquisition of Brazil-based IVIA Servicos De Informatica Ltd.

Larger rival Infosys, which is expected to report first-quarter results Wednesday evening, gained as much as 3.4% after it announced a partnership with U.S.-based investment management firm Vanguard late on Tuesday.

By 0350 GMT both the blue chip index rose and the broader S&P BSE Sensex were up around 0.9% at to 10,702.95 and 36,360.99 respectively.

Among sectors, The Nifty IT index gained 2.89% and the Nifty banking index rose 0.8%.