Positive global cues and optimism over the country’s vaccination drive on Wednesday saw the Sensex rallying 790 points, led by gains in financial stocks.
The positive close came ahead of the interest rate decision by the US Federal Reserve and the first address by US President Joe Biden to the US Congress.
“World shares inched up close to record highs as traders waited to see if the US Federal Reserve utters the dreaded word — tapering of its mass stimulus programme —post its two-day meeting on Wednesday.
The broad expectation is that it won’t want to unsettle the markets for now,” Deepak Jasani of HDFC Securities said.
Analysts added that back home, though the results season has not yielded any major negative surprises, the focus will be on the Covid-19 cases and the vaccination drive. They, however, cautioned that shares may see intermittent corrections.
The slow progress of the vaccination is another worry.
The 30-share Sensex hit an intra-day high of 49801.48. It gave up some of these gains to end 789.70 points, or 1.61 per cent, higher at 49733.84.
“World shares inched up close to record highs as traders waited to see if the US Federal Reserve utters the dreaded word — tapering of its mass stimulus programme —post its two-day meeting on Wednesday.
The broad expectation is that it won’t want to unsettle the markets for now,” Deepak Jasani, head of retail research, HDFC Securities, said.
The broader NSE Nifty surged 211.50 points, or 1.44 per cent, to 14864.55. Bajaj Finance was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 8 per cent.
Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services, said that superior fourth-quarter results and vaccine optimism buoyed domestic markets to trade on a positive footing for the third consecutive day ahead of the US Fed interest rate decision. He added that strong buying interest was seen in banking and auto stocks with enhanced business prospects which is likely to be maintained.
Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo ended on a positive note, while Seoul ended lower. Bourses in Europe were trading with gains in mid-session deals.
