Sensex, Nifty end in green, but India-China tension caps gains

The benchmark indices rose more than 2 per cent in early trade, amid buoyancy in the global markets after the US Federal Reserve announced a corporate bond-buying programme. However, indices gave up most of the gains and closed much below their day’s high on reports of a violent face-off between India and China. 

The Sensex ended the session at 33,605, rising 376 points, or 1.1 per cent. In intra-day trade, it hit a high of 34,022.01 and a low of 32,953. The Nifty hit a high of 10,046 before dropping to 9,728 and finally settled at 9,914, up 100 points, or 1 per cent.

Most European and Asian markets rallied more than 2 per cent after the US Fed said it will start purchasing corporate bonds through the secondary markets under the Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility (SMCCF). SMCCF is an emergency lending programme that has purchased only exchange-traded funds. 

 

The latest jump in the markets comes after a volatile past few sessions due to waning risk appetite on fears of a second wave of Covid-19 pandemic. Analysts said that markets will continue to remain volatile in the coming days.

“Markets are witnessing wild swings, and it may continue as we’re mirroring the global markets. Besides, the stand-off between India and China at the LAC will also be on investors’ radar, and any further escalation could negatively impact the markets. We reiterate our view preferring hedged bets at present,” Ajit Mishra, VP — Research, Religare Broking.

The market breadth was negative, with 1,193 stocks advancing and 1,380 stocks declining on the BSE.Almost half of the Sensex components ended the session with gains. HDFC Bank and HDFC were the best-performing stocks rising 4.2 per cent and 4 per cent respectively. Tech Mahindra was the worst-performing stock and fell by 2.8 per cent. Ten out of the 19 sectoral indices of the BSE ended the session with gains.