Sensex, Nifty hit record highs as markets welcome vaccine news
What's the story
Domestic stock markets hit fresh record highs on Tuesday as drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their COVID-19 vaccine candidate was over 90% effective. The news of the vaccine candidate's early success has renewed hope that economic activities around the world could resume. Without a vaccine, the pandemic continues to rage. Already, nearly 51 million have been infected globally and 1.26 million have died.
Details
BSE Sensex, NSE Nifty hit record intraday levels
BSE Sensex index jumped 391.4 points, or 0.92%, to touch an all-time high of 42,988.83, while the broader NSE Nifty climbed 105.7 points (0.85%) reaching 12,566.75. This marked the highest intraday levels for both indices. At 3:26 pm IST, Sensex traded 692.03 points (1.62%) higher at 43,289.46 while the Nifty was up 174.85 points, or 1.40%, at 12,635.90.
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Market surge led by gains in banking, financial services shares
ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and HDFC were the biggest contributors to gain in Sensex. In the Nifty basket, HDFC, Larsen & Toubro, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors and ONGC, were the biggest gainers, while Tech Mahindra, Infosys, HCL Tech, Wipro, and TCS were the top losers.
Vaccine
Pfizer, BioNTech's vaccine over 90% effective; to seek emergency approval
On Monday, US pharma giant Pfizer and German drugmaker BioNTech had announced that their COVID-19 vaccine is over 90% effective. The announcement was based on initial results from a large-scale clinical trial, the first such announcement from a major study. The companies said that no safety concerns have been found with the vaccine. Pfizer is expected to seek emergency-use authorization in the US.
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'Big relief for markets and investors; next six months crucial'
Esquire Capital Investment Advisors CEO Samrat Dasgupta told NDTV, "The vaccine news is a big relief for markets and investors are hoping that economic recovery will take place sooner." "However, the next six months will be crucial as we see more developments on the vaccine," Dasgupta said, adding that the vaccine has renewed hope that the travel and hospitality sectors would return to normalcy.
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Investors also turn focus to Bihar elections
Amid positive signals, the investors also focused on the Assembly elections in Bihar, for which the results are to be declared today. Some analysts have also cautioned over the speed in which the vaccine could be implemented.