Sensex jumps 300 points, Nifty tops 12,100; Aurobindo Pharma surges 16%
New Delhi: Equity benchmark BSE Sensex jumped over 300 points in the opening session on Wednesday (February 19) after declining over the past four sessions. The 30-share BSE index surged 381 points or 0.93 per cent to reclaim 41,000 mark in opening trade deals. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty jumped nearly 100 points, or 0.8 per cent, to trade near 12,100-level.
Worth mentioning here is that the bulls strengthened their hold on Dalal Street after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday mentioned that the Centre would unveil measures to contain economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.
Shares of Aurobindo Pharma surged over 16 per cent after the drugmaker received an establishment inspection report (EIR) from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). Among the top gainers were pharma shares such Piramal Enterprises (up 2.44 per cent), Biocon (up 1.7 per cent), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 1.3 per cent) in the morning trade.
Shree Cement shares surged 6 per cent to Rs 25222.90 apiece in today’s rade on inclusion in the benchmark NSE Nifty index.
On Tuesday, the Sensex and the Nifty closed in red for the fourth successive session as the ongoing AGR (adjusted gross revenue) issue weighed on telecom and financial stocks. The Sensex closed at 40,894.38, lower by 161.31 points while the Nifty settled at 11,992.50, lower by 53.30 points.
Asian indices were higher on Wednesday as investors tried to brush aside coronavirus concerns despite a rise in the number of virus cases. The death toll from the coronavirus crossed 2,000 on Wednesday after 132 more people died in China’s Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak.
The forex market closed on Wednesday on account of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti.
