Sensex rises as Biden agrees to waive IP rights on Covid drugs: What else is impacting D-St
US President Joe Biden’s decision to back waiving IP rights on vaccines is a big positive. This will quicken the vaccination process enabling countries like India to come out of the pandemic faster, said an analyst.
“Lockdowns and restrictions on mobility are increasing, impacting the economic recovery. Now there are two broad views regarding the peaking of the second wave: One, peaking by mid-May; two, peaking by July. If the first scenario plays out, the hit to economic growth will be a marginal, say, 1 per cent decline from the estimates of 11 per cent growth in FY22. In the second scenario, the hit will be worse. IT, pharma, metals & telecom are likely to remain resilient even under difficult times,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
How are the blue chips doing?
After opening in the green, benchmark indices pared some gains. At 9:21 am, BSE flagship Sensex was up 53 points or 0.11 per cent at 48,730.32. NSE benchmark Nifty however was up 50 points or 0.35 per cent at 14,668.
In the 50-share pack Nifty, Tata Consumer was the biggest gainer, up 0.45 per cent. Adani Ports, Hindalco, SBI, ITC, Cipla, Hero MotoCorp, HDFC and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among other gainers.
SBI Life Insurance was the top loser in the pack, down 0.32 per cent. Bajaj Finserv, Grasim, NTPC, Britannia, L&T, HDFC Life Insurance, Sun Pharma, UPL and UltraTech Cement were other losers in the pack.
FACTORS DRIVING MARKETS
Good news
- US supports IP waiver: President Joe Biden on Wednesday backed waiving intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines, bowing to mounting pressure from Democratic lawmakers and more than 100 other countries, but angering pharmaceutical companies.
- US economy on fast lane: The US economy may be growing more quickly and unemployment falling faster than the core of Federal Reserve policymakers projected in March, Fed Governor Michelle Bowman said on Wednesday.
- Yields stable: The US nominal bond yields held relatively stable, with the 10-year U.S. Treasuries yield little changed at 1.584 per cent.
Bad news
- Covid rampage: India’s second Covid-19 wave turned even grimmer on Wednesday as both daily cases and deaths surged to new peaks. The country reported over 4.12 lakh new cases, 10,000 higher than the last peak, while the day’s death toll climbed close to the 4,000 mark at 3,980.
Broader markets
Broader market indices were trading higher, outperforming their headline peers in morning trade. Nifty Smallcap was up 0.58 per cent while Nifty Midcap rose 0.58 per cent. The broadest index on NSE, the Nifty 500, climbed 0.42 per cent.
BHEL, Navin Fluorine, PI Industries, Tanla Platforms, Blue Dart and CSB Bank were gainers from the space while Rossari Biotech, Cyient, Linde India, Adani Total Gas, Emami and Trent were under selling pressure.
Global markets
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.25 per cent, and Japan’s Nikkei jumped 1.8 per cent as it reopened after a five-day holiday.
Chinese shares, also resuming trade for the first time since last week, were mixed in early trade, with the Shanghai Composite up 0.45 per cent and CSI300 down 0.2 per cent.
Overnight on Wall Street, Dow hit a record high overnight, having risen 0.29 per cent, while the S&P 500 added 0.07 per cent, led by gains in energy and other cyclical shares.
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