Sensex surges over 1,600 pts; Nifty reclaims 8,200 level

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex rallied over 1,600 points in afternoon session on Wednesday led by gains in index heavyweights Reliance Industries, HDFC twins, ICICI Bank and Kotak Bank as government took drastic measures to combat Covid-19 outbreak.

Asian peers were also trading higher as authorities world over stepped up efforts to fight the pandemic.

After rallying 1,657 points, the BSE barometer was trading 1,573.02 points or 5.90 per cent higher at 28,247.05.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty was trading 444.30 points, or 5.70 per cent, up at 8,245.35.

Axis Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying up to 15 per cent, followed by Reliance Industries, Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank, Maruti, UltraTech Cement, HDFC twins and Bharti Airtel. On the other hand, ITC, ONGC and L&T were the laggards.

According to traders, in a highly volatile market, investors are weighing the economic impact of the 21-day lockdown announced last night.

In an unprecedented drastic measure to curb the spread of coronavirus, Modi said the lockdown will be in force from Tuesday midnight, as he announced a central allocation of Rs 15,000 crore to strengthen the health infrastructure to tackle the disease.

The total number of active Covid-19 cases in India stood at 512 on Wednesday morning, as per health ministry log.