Sensex, Nifty end higher as hopes of strong quarterly earnings trump coronavirus fears

Indian shares ended higher for a third consecutive session on Friday, as gains in financial and energy stocks and hopes of strong corporate earnings outweighed concerns over surging domestic coronavirus cases that crossed the one million mark.

The NSE Nifty 50 index ended up 1.51{b1ee4ac4d8d7b8e1af61a560a11ca52574b8103b547ccac8037ce0cdf9e7ba58} at 10,901.70, while the S&P BSE Sensex gained 1.5{b1ee4ac4d8d7b8e1af61a560a11ca52574b8103b547ccac8037ce0cdf9e7ba58} at 37,020.14.

Shares of conglomerate Reliance Industries and top private lender HDFC Bank gained 3.7{b1ee4ac4d8d7b8e1af61a560a11ca52574b8103b547ccac8037ce0cdf9e7ba58} and 3.4{b1ee4ac4d8d7b8e1af61a560a11ca52574b8103b547ccac8037ce0cdf9e7ba58}, respectively, and were the top boosts on the Nifty.

The Nifty and the Sensex posted their fifth straight weekly gain, rising 1.24{b1ee4ac4d8d7b8e1af61a560a11ca52574b8103b547ccac8037ce0cdf9e7ba58} and 1.16{b1ee4ac4d8d7b8e1af61a560a11ca52574b8103b547ccac8037ce0cdf9e7ba58}, respectively. This was their longest weekly winning streak since March-April 2019.

Bank Nifty rose 1.7{b1ee4ac4d8d7b8e1af61a560a11ca52574b8103b547ccac8037ce0cdf9e7ba58}, while the Nifty energy index gained 4.2{b1ee4ac4d8d7b8e1af61a560a11ca52574b8103b547ccac8037ce0cdf9e7ba58}.

“Overall market sentiments are positive as we are getting good earning numbers from information technology companies and globally markets are in positive mood,” said Rahul Sharma, head of research, Equity99 Advisors in Mumbai.

Corporate earnings among blue-chip companies have been positive so far, with IT majors Infosys, Wipro and HCL Technologies beating estimates and only Tata Consultancy Services missing expectations.

Shares of Zydus Cadila ended up 4.6{b1ee4ac4d8d7b8e1af61a560a11ca52574b8103b547ccac8037ce0cdf9e7ba58} after the company said it plans to complete late-stage trials for its novel coronavirus vaccine candidate by February or March and could produce up to 100 million doses a year initially, if it is successful.

Coronavirus cases in the world’s second-most populous nation crossed one million as of Friday morning, and the number of deaths rose above 25,000, according to federal government data.

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