Equity indices jump 3% ahead of RBI Governor's address

Equity benchmark indices jumped over 3 per cent during early hours on Friday in line with firm global cues and ahead of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das' address to the media.

Reports of another imminent stimulus package from the government lifted market sentiment. Das is expected to make announcements concerning additional measures to help the economy in the face of COVID-19 crisis.

At 10 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 887 points or 2.9 per cent at 31,489 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 271 points or 3 per cent at 9,263.

All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the positive terrain with Nifty realty, financial service and private bank up by 4.5 per cent each, IT by 3.6 per cent and auto by 2.9 per cent.

Among stocks, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) rose nearly 7 percent after the IT major reported a consolidated profit of Rs 8,049 crore, down 0.85 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis.

Private lenders Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and IndusInd Bank moved up by 5.6 per cent, 5.3 per cent and 4.8 per cent respectively. The other major gainers were Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC, NTPC and Hero MotoCorp.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks gained after US President Donald Trump's announced plans to gradually re-open the US economy.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was up by 2.6 per cent after reaching a five-week high.

Japan's Nikkei rose by 2.55 per cent while shares in South Korea gained by 3.27 per cent and in China by 1.8 per cent. 

-ANI

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