Sensex reclaims 30,000 mark on strong buying

Indices opened higher on strong buying in index stocks. At 9:18 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 939.52 points or 3.14% at 30,886.29. The Nifty 50 index was up 333.65 points or 3.86% at 8,975.10.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 3.48%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 2.74%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 670 shares rose and 90 shares fell. A total of 32 shares were unchanged.

Stocks in news:

NTPC rose 2.05%. NTPC said it signed a share-purchase agreement with the central government to acquire North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) for Rs 4,000 crore and THDC India (THDCIL) for Rs 7,500 crore. The acquisitions are subject to regulatory approvals.

Yes Bank jumped 9.94%. Yes Bank said its board has approved raising funds amounting to Rs 5,000 crore, in addition to Rs 10,000 crore cleared in January, through issuance of securities. The board of the bank has also been reconstituted.

ICICI Bank soared 7.06%. ICICI Bank entered into an agreement to invest in Auxilo Finserve (previously known as Stellenyak General Finance) by acquiring 9.9% stake, or 34.1 million equity shares for Rs 51.1 crore.

Aurobindo Pharma zoomed 7.69%. Aurobindo Pharma said with regard to the USFDA inspection of Unit VIII, API manufacturing facility at Gaddapotharam, Hyderabad, the company has received the Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) with Voluntary Action Initiated (VAl) status from USFDA.

Finolex Industries rocketed 8.28%. Finolex Industries said it has suspended operations at all plants, offices and warehouses located at various locations until 14 April 2020 as per the Centre's order of a complete lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

United Spirits went up 2.26%. United Spirits said it has closed operations at all its offices and manufacturing units till 14 April 2020 to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Global Markets:

Overseas, most Asian markets were trading higher on Friday as investors wagered policymakers will roll out additional stimulus measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic after US unemployment filings surged to a record.

The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits surged to a record of more than 3 million last week as strict measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic ground the country to a sudden halt

In US, stocks roared higher on Thursday, closing up for the third day in a row despite a report from the Labor Department that showed unemployment claims soared to a record 3.28 million last week, as the coronavirus pandemic shut down businesses across the nation.

Investors took some comfort from the overnight passage of a historic $2 trillion economic stimulus bill by the Senate, putting it one step closer to being signed into law to mitigate the economic fallout from the outbreak.

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