INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
renewed strength in global equities gave investors the confidence to lap up battered bargains
While the mood on Dalal Street remained apprehensive amid swelling instances of lockdowns and shutdowns worldwide, investors judged that the
34 per cent slump in the market in a month was excessive for now
Key indices recovered from their 38-month lows hit on Thursday.
The Sensex rose 1,627.73 points or 5.75 per cent to 29,915.96 while the
Nifty gained 482 points or 5.83 per cent to 8,745.45
The Sensex posted its biggest singleday gain since April 4, 2009 and the Nifty since November 10, 2008.
Technical analysts said it will be
critical for Nifty to stay above 8,600 early next week for the rebound to sustain
Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.2 per cent and S-P 500 Index fell 1.5 per cent at print time.
The bounce in India and other Asian
markets on Friday helped lessen some concerns about the near-term prospects with the Volatility Index (VIX) falling 7.3 per cent to 67.10
Wall Street gave up early gains and slipped lower on Friday in volatile trading, bucking the optimistic trend.
Cheap Valuations a FactorVIX
has soared 340 per cent since February19
After trading hours on Friday, the Securities and Exchange Board of India introduced additional measures to tamp down wild fluctuations by
introducing some restrictions in stocks futures and options trading.
The market regulator has been under pressure from a section of Dalal
Street participants to ban bets on market declines, popularly known as short-selling, following the example of various European and Asian
Fund managers said cheap valuations in various pockets of the market prompted investors to deploy some of their cash.
The market cap to GDP
of India (based on BSE stocks) touched 51.4 per cent on Friday below 54 per cent during the global financial crisis, said Gopal Agrawal,
liquidity to combat the pandemic-induced downturn in the continent
The Stoxx Europe 600 was up 2.4 per cent at press time.
The renewed strength in the market notwithstanding, sentiment is far from optimistic
with Covid-19 infections across the globe inching closer to 250,000
There are 246,275 virus cases worldwide, while over 10,000 people have succumbed to the pandemic
