Bouncing back from previous session’s fall, headline indices Sensex and Nifty jumped more than 2.5 per cent in the opening deals on Thursday led by buying in index weights such as HDFC twins, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bharti Airtel. “The markets are expected to remain choppy while there could be intermittent relief rallies on account of any positive news regarding COVID-19. On the domestic front, IIP data for the February month would provide a sense of the impact of the virus led disruption on the manufacturing activity. Considering the scenario, we suggest continuing with hedged positions and preferring index majors over the others for trading, says Ajit Mishra, VP – Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.

Nifty mounts 9,000: S&P BSE Sensex was trading 700 points or 2.34 per cent higher at 30,592, while the broader Nifty 50 index was up 216 points or 2.47 per cent at 8,964. Top index contributors in today’s trade include private bank stocks, Infosys and Bharti Airtel.

Hindustan Unilever only S&P BSE Sensex loser: Barring HUL, 29 Sensex stocks were trading in a positive territory with Maruti Suzuki as the top gainer, up 7 per cent, followed by Hero MotoCorp, Sun Pharma, HDFC and M&M.

Cipla leads Nifty Pharma index: Among all sectoral indices, Nifty Pharma was the top gainer, up 5.6 per cent led by gains in Cipla, Lupin and Sun Pharma. SImilarly, Nifty Bank index gained 620 points with IDFC First Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Axis Bank as top index gainers.

Global markets: Asian shares rose on Wednesday, tracking gains on Wall Street on hopes that the coronavirus pandemic is nearing a peak and that governments would roll out more stimulus measures. Nikkei futures rose and were trading above the Nikkei 225 index’s previous close. As the health insurers got an additional lift from Bernie Sanders’ decision to suspend his presidential campaign and signs about COVID-19 in US was close to peak, US stocks sureged. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 779.71 points, or 3.44%, to 23,433.57, the S&P 500 gained 90.57 points, or 3.41%, to 2,749.98 and the Nasdaq Composite added 203.64 points, or 2.58%, to 8,090.90

13 shares hit 52-week highs on NSE: Abbott India, Cadila Healthcare, Cipla, Divis Laboratories, Dr Reddy’s, Ruchi Soya and Torrent Pharma were among 13 scrips that hit 52-week highs on NSE in Thursday’s trade.

FIIs buy Rs 1943 crore worth stocks: Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,943.41 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares of worth Rs 1,757.79 crore on Wednesday, according to the provisional data available on the NSE.