Equity benchmark indices were trading at day’s high in the afternoon session following the trend in global peers as major countries planned to authorise vaccines and treatment for Covid-19, which lifted hopes of a better recovery.
Banks, auto, realty, metal and auto saw buying while IT and pharma stocks were under pressure.
The BSE flagship Sensex was up 377 points or 0.98% to 38,812, while NSE benchmark Nifty added 110 points at 11,477. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1656 shares rose and 1041 shares fell.
The Nifty Pharma index is trading lower by 83 points at 11,532.15 levels. Lupin, Cadila, Alkem fell 2% each, Dr Reddy’s, Torrent Pharma and Divis Lab slipped by 1% each.
The Nifty Private Bank index rose 2.5% to 12,492, advancing for the second day in a row. The index has added 2.88% in two sessions as against a 1.13% rise in the benchmark Nifty50 index during the same period.
Among the index constituents, Kotak Mahindra Bank surged 4%, HDFC Bank and IndusInd Bank climbed over 2.5%, followed by ICICI Bank, IDFC First Bank and Axis Bank were the other top index gainers.
