Sensex, Nifty zooms; Avenue Supermarts hits upper circuit

Extreme behaviour and volatility was seen in the stock markets today unlike previous trading sessions. On Wednesday, Sensex jumped by 2.06 per cent, which is 622.44 to settle at the level of 30,818.61 while, its NSE counterpart-Nifty gained by 187.45 points or 2.11 per cent more than its previous close to end the session in green at 9,066.55 level.

Though the fiscal stimulus by the government had failed to bring cheer to the stock market, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement brought some comfort and boosted investor sentiments. She asserted that the government is with the industry to support it and in future, will do as much as possible to repair the damage experienced by companies due to poor economic environment.

In addition to this, positive financial performance reported by the companies for the recently ended quarter of FY20, aided in reviving investor’s confidence as well.

As a relief for consumers, Indian government is considering to set caps and floors on airfares temporarily once the air transport resumes post lockdown, so as to protect both consumers as well as airlines. In terms of market capitalisation (M-cap), Avenue Supermarts, which runs DMart chain of stores, crossed Nestle India, which deals in packaged consumer goods.

On Wednesday, the shares of the former were locked in the upper circuit of five per cent at Rs 2,453 and its M-cap was calculated to be around Rs 1.59 trillion on BSE. Awaiting the announcement by the government about its economic plans, Hang Seng index gained by 0.048 per cent whereas, Shanghai index fell by 0.51 per cent, showing a weak activity. Elsewhere, Nikkei closed in green, up by 0.79 per cent while, FTSE 100 and DAX opened in green-up by 0.14 per cent and 0.42 per cent each whereas, CAC40 was down by 0.19 per cent.

Buying amongst financial & banking stocks pulled up Sensex, as HDFC gained by 5.61 per cent, M&M rose by 5.92 per cent, Bajaj Finance increased by 3.85 per cent, HDFC Bank increased by 3.19 per cent, ITC gained by 2.96 per cent, Kotak Mahindra Bank increased by 2.88 per cent, etc. Sensex losers consisted of IndusInd Bank closing in red down by 2.85 per cent, Hero MotoCorp fell by 2.45 per cent, Bharti Airtel decreased by 0.85 per cent and Asian Paints fell by 0.35 per cent. Small-cap and Mid-cap indices surged by 1.13 per cent and 1.49 per cent respectively.