Indian Markets Make Sharp Recovery; Sensex Up 500 Points, Nifty Above 9,300-Mark

Indian markets saw a huge swing in the opening session on Tuesday as they recovered after falling around 650 points, to recoupe losses and trade in green. At 10.30 AM, BSE Sensex was nearly up 600 points 599.79 at 31,989.86 points. It had gone down to 30,745.19 before rising up 32,047.98 in the opening session. Similarly, NSE Nifty was trading at 9,397.63. It had touched the depth at 9,016.85 before recovering to get as high as 9,363.95 in the session.

The rise was a result of value-buying in recently-hammered stocks even as investors fretted over an impending economic global recession led by Covid-19 pandemic.

The rupee appreciated 22 paise to 74.03 against US dollar in morning session. Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose over 2.10 per cent to USD 30.67 per barrel.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Japan were trading on a positive note, while those in Seoul were in the red.

The number of deaths around the world linked to the virus has topped 7,000, after Italy announced a new surge in fatalities, with over 1,75,000 infections recorded globally so far. In India, the number of infected cases stood at 125, as per union health ministry log.

On Monday, the markets had succumbed to yet another brutal selloff, with the Sensex logging its second-biggest drop in absolute terms. The 30-share BSE Sensex had plunged 2,713.41 points or 7.96 per cent to finish at 31,390.07. The broader NSE Nifty had given up the 9,200 level and slumped 757.80 points or 7.61 per cent to end at 9,197.40.

Wall Street had suffered its biggest drop since the crash of 1987 on Monday even as the Fed rate cut failed to cheer the markets. The S&P 500 tumbled 12%, closing at its lowest level since December 2018. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2,997.1 points, or 12.93%. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 970.28 points, or 12.32%, to 6,904.59.

After market hours on Monday, the Reserve Bank hinted at a rate cut but stopped short of a decision, belying market expectations at a hurriedly called presser even as it announced some liquidity enhancing measures to contain the economic fallout from the coronavirus. But Governor Shaktikanta Das was quick to assure that the Reserve Bank has "enough policy tools and stands ready to take any measures" needed to help the economy tide over the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

In two liquidity enhancing measures, Das announced another round of USD 2 billion dollar-rupee swap on March 23, and in another measure he said the RBI will continue to conduct the long-term repo operations (LTROs) of up to Rs 1 lakh crore as and when the market needs it.

(With PTI Inputs)