Sensex Posts Biggest Gain In 2 Weeks; All Eyes On Economic Package Details

The markets, however, gave up more than half of those gains by the end of the day. The Sensex closed with a gain of 637.49 points - or 2.03 per cent - at 32,008.61 - its biggest gain in almost two weeks, and the Nifty shut shop at 9,383.55, up 187.00 points (2.03 per cent) from the previous close. In the Nifty basket of 50 components, 43 stocks ended higher. Top percentage gainers were Zee Entertainment, Axis Bank, UltraTech Cement, Larsen & Toubro, Adani Ports and ICICI Bank, ending between 4.98 per cent and 7.71 per cent higher HDFC Bank (closing up 2.92 per cent), ICICI Bank (5.04 per cent) and Reliance Industries (2.01 per cent) together contributed nearly 300 points to the gain in Sensex. On Tuesday, the Prime Minister said the package was equivalent to 10 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), and was aimed at the multitudes out of work and businesses reeling under the prolonged shutdown. Details of the new package, and reforms of land and labour markets, will be announced by the Finance Minister within days, PM Modi added. In March, the government had announced around Rs 1.7 lakh crore in direct cash transfers and food security measures for the poor. PM Modi also said strict stay-at-home orders will be extended beyond May 17 with a new set of rules. Analysts eagerly awaited Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's media briefing at 4:00 pm for the fine print of the government's economic package. "Details of the economic package announced by the government are yet to be seen... People want to see the details," AK Prabhakar, head of research at IDBI Capital, told NDTV, adding "The futures jumped sharply on Tuesday as the announcement came about... It is a classic case of 'buy on rumour and sell on news'." Equities elsewhere in Asia traded mixed, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan rising 0.39 per cent. Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.49 per cent Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.27 per cent, while China's Shanghai Composite barometer moved up 0.22 cent. European markets started the day with sharp losses, with the United Kingdom's FTSE benchmark index down 0.94 per cent in early trade. France's CAC and Germany's DAX indices were down 1.83 per cent and 1.57 per cent at the time respectively. Overnight in the US, the S&P 500 benchmark index shed 2.05 per cent, whereas the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite indices fell 1.89 per cent and 2.06 per cent respectively. The E-Mini S&P 500 futures were last seen down 0.10 per cent in morning, indicating a weak start for Wall Street on Wednesday. .(With inputs from agencies)

Sensex Posts Biggest Gain In 2 Weeks; All Eyes On Economic Package Details

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