Equity indices edge higher on hope of stimulus package, IT and banking stocks gain

Equity benchmark indices ruled higher during early hours on Thursday following reports that the government may soon announce an economic stimulus package to soften the blow of countrywide lockdown amid spreading coronavirus.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S & P Sensex was up by 1,175 points or 4.12 per cent to 29,711 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 327 points or 3.93 per cent to 8,645.

All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the positive zone with Nifty IT up by 4 per cent, private bank by 3.8 per cent, realty by 3 per cent and pharma by 2.5 per cent.

Among stocks, IndusInd Bank made a dramatic gain of 25 per cent to Rs 376.60 per share while Axis Bank was up by 7.3 per cent. Bajaj Finserv and Bajaj Finance ticked up by 5.3 per cent and 4.7 per cent respectively.

The other prominent winners included Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Bharti Infratel and Titan.

However, IndianOil Corporation lost by 1.9 per cent while ONGC, GAIL, Maruti and ITC traded with a negative bias.

Meanwhile, Asian shares lost momentum as stimulus negotiations dragged on in Washington and investors fretted over a likely spike in US jobless claims.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan fluctuated between gains and losses while Japan's Nikkei slumped by 3.2 per cent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was flat but South Korea's Kospi moved up by 0.8 per cent.