Equity indices gain 0.6 pc, Bajaj twins top gainer

Equity benchmark indices traded higher during early hours on Tuesday as the government's decision to vaccinate every citizen above the age of 18 years against Covid-19 from May 1 buoyed investor sentiment.At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 269 points or 0.65 per cent at 48,218 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 100 points or 0.7 per cent to 14,460.

Except for Nifty IT which dipped marginally, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green with Nifty PSU bank gaining by 2.1 per cent, private bank by 1.2 per cent, financial service by 1.1 per cent, auto by 1.4 per cent and realty by 1 per cent.

Among stocks, Bajaj Finance ticked up by 4.3 per cent to Rs 4,662.10 per share and Bajaj Finserv by 4 per cent. IndusInd Bank gained by 2.7 per cent, Axis Bank by 1.7 per cent, HDFC Life by 2.4 per cent and SBI Life by 1.9 per cent.

Dr Reddy's, Tata Consumer Products and Titan also were in the positive terrain. However, those which lost were HCL Technologies, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services, Hindustan Lever and Asian Paints.

Meanwhile, Asian shares rose led by a stronger Chinese opening and shaking off the initial drag from tech-driven Wall Street losses.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.2 per cent. South Korea's Kospi gained 0.4 per cent but Japan's Nikkei dropped 1.84 per cent as the country continues to grapple with a resurgence in Covid cases.

( With inputs from ANI )