India’s Sensex Index Climbs to a Record on Vaccine Optimism

(Bloomberg) -- Indian stocks rose to a new record, after swinging between gains and losses, as investors saw the roll out of a vaccine aiding a business and economic recovery.

The S&P BSE Sensex advanced for a ninth day, adding 0.6% to 48,176.80 in Mumbai, after earlier falling by a similar magnitude during the session as some investors took advantage of record-high index levels to book profits. The NSE Nifty 50 Index climbed 0.8%. Both indexes closed at new peaks.

The Serum Institute of India Ltd., which is producing the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca Plc and the University of Oxford, expects the government to sign a formal supply and pricing agreement within days after the shot was approved for emergency usage in the world’s second-largest Covid-19 hotspot.

“This is a buy-on-dips market. We are retaining in our portfolio and also booking profits where there is excessive exuberance,” said Kranthi Bathini, a strategist at Mumbai-based WealthMills Securities Ltd. “We are starting the year with a lot of optimism over the vaccine.”

The Numbers

• All but two of 19 sector indexes compiled by BSE Ltd. rose, led by a gauge of metal companies
• Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. contributed the most to the Sensex advance, increasing 3.8%, while Oil and Natural Gas Corp. had the largest gain, rising 4%
• Reliance Industries Ltd. erased its decline in the session to close 0.2% up; India’s market regulator ordered the company and its chairman to pay penalties totaling 400 million rupees ($5.5 million) for allegedly violating share-trading rules

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