Sensex rallies 1,325 pts; Nifty reclaims 9,900

Equity benchmark Sensex spurted 1,325.34 points while the Nifty reclaimed the 9,900 level after a highly volatile session on Friday as investors rushed to buy stocks at beaten-down valuations after markets saw their biggest selloff earlier in the day.

As coronavirus-led recession fears triggered panic selling globally, indices plunged over 10 per cent in the opening session, hitting their lower circuit levels.

Stock exchanges halted trading for 45 minutes within 15 minutes for market opening. Normal trading resumed at around 1030 hours.

The last circuit freeze happened in January 2008.

Recovering over 5,380 points from its intra-day low of 29,388.97, the BSE Sensex ended 1,325.34 points or 4.04 per cent higher at 34,103.48.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty settled 365.05 points, or 3.81 per cent, up at 9,955.20. It hit an intra-day low of 8,555.15.

Most Sensex components ended with gains. SBI was the top gainer, rallying over 13 per cent, followed by Tata Steel, HDFC, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel and ICICI Bank.

On the other hand, Nestle India, Asian Paints, HUL, Hero MotoCorp and HCL Tech ended in the red.

Fears of a global recession spiked, triggering a manic selloff in world stocks, analysts said, adding that the market is concerned about the adverse economic impact of government lock-downs across the world to contain Covid-19.

Bottom-fishing at hammered valuations helped market recover from the day's lows, they added.

In rest of Asia, Shanghai slipped 1.23 per cent, Hong Kong 1.14 per cent, Seoul 3.43 per cent and Tokyo 6.08 per cent.

Bourses in Europe opened up to 4 per cent higher.

The rupee too witnessed a sharp recovery, appreciating 47 paise to 73.81 per US dollar (intra-day).

Brent crude oil futures surged 5.51 per cent to USD 35.05 per barrel.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in India stood at 75, including 17 foreigners, as per health ministry data.

Around 1,30,000 cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in 116 countries and territories, killing at least 4,900 people.