Sensex jumps over 340 points, Nifty at 11,030 after US delays tariffs on Chinese imports

Equity indices shot up following their Asian peers on Wednesday after the United States delayed tariffs on some Chinese imports.

At 12 noon, the BSE S & P Sensex was up 346 points at 37,304 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 104 points to 11,030. At the National Stock Exchange, all sectoral indices were in the green except for Nifty pharma which dipped by 2.4 per cent.

Nifty media was up by over 2 per cent, metals and PSU banks by 1.5 per cent each, financial services and private banks by 1.1 per cent each, and auto by 0.7 per cent.

Among stocks, Zee Entertainment gained 5.2 per cent to Rs 344.30 per share while Yes Bank was up by 4.9 per cent to Rs 77.20 per share.

Tata Steel was up by 4.6 per cent, UPL by 4.2 per cent and Vedanta by 4 per cent. The other prominent gainers were Bajaj Finserv, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Hindalco and Tech Mahindra.

But pharma stocks were on slippery ground with Sun Pharma plunging by 5.8 per cent and Dr Reddy was down by 3.2 per cent. Wipro, Coal India, Power Grid, Britannia, Tata Motors and ONGC also lost by up to 2 per cent.

Meanwhile, Asian indices opened in the green following a rally overnight in US markets where US President Donald Trump delayed the September 1 deadline for 10 per cent tariffs on some Chinese imports.

Delaying duties on a range of consumer goods to December 15 sent Wall Street stocks soaring a day earlier. Oil prices rose sharply and energy stocks rallied along with short covering in financials. The trade conflict has disrupted global supply chains and slowed economic growth, dampening sentiment across markets.

The surge in US stocks lifted MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan by 0.9 per cent. The Shanghai Composite Index advanced by 0.6 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose by 0.5 per cent. South Korea's KOSPI also advanced by 0.8 per cent and Japan's Nikkei rose by 0.6 per cent.

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