Equity indices gain 0.5 pc as IT, pharma stocks rally

Equity benchmark indices edged higher during early hours on Thursday ahead of the expiry day of monthly futures and options contracts.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 250 points or 0.66 per cent at 38,321 while the Nifty 50 gained by 72 points or 0.64 per cent at 11,275.

All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green with Nifty IT and pharma up by 1.6 per cent each.

Among stocks, Wipro was up by 2.8 per cent to Rs 284.80 per share while Tata Consultancy Services gained by 2.4 per cent, HCL Technologies by 2.2 per cent and Infosys by 1.3 per cent. Pharma majors, Dr Reddy's and Cipla advanced by 4 per cent and 1.6 per cent respectively.

Bharti Airtel gained by 1.3 per cent after posting 15 per cent growth in Q1 revenue of Rs 23,939 crore on higher data usage during the coronavirus crisis but a loss of Rs 15,933 crore.

However, energy scrips lost with Bharat Petroleum Corporation down by 4.5 per cent, IndianOil Corporation by 2.9 per cent, GAIL by 0.9 per cent and Coal India by 0.7 per cent.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks traded higher as the US Federal Reserve members voted to leave the target range for short-term rates between 0 and 0.25 per cent to support the country's virus-battered economy.

Japan's Nikkei and South Korea's Kospi were up by 0.3 per cent each while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose by 0.2 per cent.

( With inputs from ANI )