India Stocks Rise as Vaccine News Fuels Optimism
India Stocks Rise as Vaccine News Fuels Optimism
(Bloomberg) -- Indian stocks rose on Tuesday as favorable initial results for a second Covid-19 vaccine fanned optimism of an exit from the pandemic.
The S&P BSE Sensex climbed 0.7% to 43,952.71 in Mumbai, while the NSE Nifty 50 Index advanced by the same magnitude. Both gauges extended gains from all-time high closing levels.
Strategists at brokerages including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan Asset Management see stocks in India’s $2.2 trillion market sustaining their record-breaking rally, in part because it’s more sensitive to vaccine-related developments than other Asian markets.
Moderna Inc.’s vaccine was shown to be almost 95% effective in a late-stage clinical trial, another sign of progress in the hunt for tools to fight the pandemic that continues to spread in some parts of the world.
“The biggest uncertainty was the pandemic, so if there is a solution, there is naturally a big sigh of relief,” said Sudip Bandyopadhyay, who oversees investments at Inditrade Capital Ltd. in Mumbai. “Investors are also watching for how fast any potential vaccines can be delivered and what the logistics will involve.”
India’s equities have also been helped by better than expected results for the September quarter, with 70% of the companies on the Nifty 50 index beating or matching analyst estimates.
While India’s daily coronavirus infections are down from a September peak, the country still has the world’s second highest number of cases after the U.S.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond was little changed at 5.88% while the rupee strengthened 0.2% to 74.4600 against the U.S. dollar.
The Numbers
- Twelve of 19 sector sub-indexes compiled by BSE Ltd. advanced, led by a gauge of industrial companies
- Nineteen Sensex shares rose while eleven fell
- HDFC Bank Ltd. contributed most to the index’s advance with a 2.8% gain
- Tata Steel Ltd.’s 6.2% jump was the steepest after quarterly ebidta beat estimates and the company said it was in talks to sell a unit
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