BENGALURU (Reuters) – Indian shares extended gains for a sixth session and the Nifty crossed the 10,000 mark for the first time since March 13, as Asia’s third-largest economy gradually comes out of COVID-19 lockdowns and risk appetite picks up in global markets.
The NSE Nifty 50 bluechip index .NSEI rose 1.32% to 10,110.55 as of 0508 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex .BSESN was up 1.23% at 34,240.90.
The Nifty-50 bluechip index was up over 5% so far this week, following a similar rally last week. The bank index rose 2.7%, while the financial index .NIFTYFIN gained 2.4%.
“Markets are looking beyond the first quarter given that this fiscal year is a washout,” said Rusmik Oza, head of fundamental research at Kotak Securities in Mumbai.
“First-quarter results will still play a crucial role as nobody knows the extent of damage and will be a reality check. Even if the markets sustain these higher levels, we will see a downturn during the next earnings season.”
Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus cases in India surged past 200,000 as of Wednesday, with growth rate of new infections showing no sign of slowing.
Among individual stocks, Britannia Industries rose as much as 7.5% to a record high after the biscuits maker reported a surge in March quarter profit on Tuesday, beating estimates.
InterGlobe Aviation Ltd (INGL.NS), which runs India’s largest airline IndiGo, surged 9.8%, a day after it rolled out plans to cut costs, phase out older planes and posted a 8.73 billion rupees loss in March quarter.
Bajaj Finance Ltd (BJFN.NS) was the top gainer in Nifty 50 index, rising 5.5%.
Asian shares vaulted to a near three-month high on hopes of more stimulus and further easing in social restrictions around the world.
Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Arun Koyyur
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