Short covering lifts Sensex by 1,627 pts
■ China resuming production, global stimulus boost stocks
AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes has returned to his post after being cleared by an independent probe, the Malaysian carrier said, weeks after stepping aside amid a $4 billion Airbus graft scandal. AirAsia founder and CEO Fernandes and executive chairman Kamarudin Meranun left their roles last month after Airbus settled a court case in Europe and allegations emerged the plane-maker paid bribes to win contracts.
Bargain buying in bluechips after the heavy selling through the week narrowed the weekly losses for the market benchmarks, helping Sensex and Nifty50 gain 5.75 per cent on Friday, aided by positive global cues as there was short-covering in equities worldwide.
On the whole, the Indian stock market witnessed one of its worst weeks since the 2008 market crash, to end down by 12 per cent, on a weekly basis.
On Friday, The Sensex climbed 1627 points, up 5.75 per cent, at 29915 while the
Nifty-50 Index gained 5.83 per cent, or 482 points, to close at 8745.45.
China reported resumption of production in factories and no fresh cases of coronavirus, which has led to some recovery in the global markets.
Shrikant Chouhan, executive vice-president, equity technical research at Kotak Securities, said, "The main reasons for the positive close of equity markets are the precautionary measures taken around the world against the coronavirus and fiscal stimulus announcements by the central banks. After 10 days, India VIX has taken a
breather. From 22, it jumped to 73 but closed at
66.75 on Friday, which shows the market is showing signs of exiting the uncertainties. Large-cap stocks have risen and if the market closes at the level of
8,900 on Monday, then Nifty
may rise further or else the index may fall to 8500 to
8300 levels again." Index heavyweight Reliance Industries surged
11.24 per cent on Friday, lifting both Sesnx and Nifty. Other big gainers included ONGC (18.58 per
cent), Ultratech Cement
(13.01 per cent), Hindustan Unilever (11.75 per cent), TCS (9.90 per cent) and ITC
(8.40 per cent). Investors are now richer by Rs 6.33 lah crore as the BSE's market cap rose to Rs
116.09 lakh crore.