Sensex, Nifty Seen Up As Vaccination Picks Up Pace

Indian shares are seen opening higher on Tuesday amid hopes that current vaccination drive might help prevent a possible third wave of coronavirus infections and that the domestic economy is much better prepared to face any kind of crisis.

India on Monday broke its record of maximum Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in a day, with more than 75 lakh vaccine doses administered across the country as Centre’s revised vaccination guidelines came into force.

The country recorded its lowest single-day rise in 88 days with 53,256 new cases in the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, India received $64 billion in Foreign Direct Investment in 2020, the fifth largest recipient of inflows in the world, according to a UN report.

Retail companies could be in focus today after the government proposed tough e-commerce rules to address alleged cheating practices employed by Amazon and Flipkart.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and the Nifty ended a choppy session up about half a percent on Monday, while the rupee fell by 24 paise to close at 74.10 against the dollar.

Asian markets followed Wall Street higher this morning and Brent oil hit $75 a barrel for the first time since April 2019, while Bitcoin slipped toward $30,000 after China intensified its cryptocurrency clampdown.

U.S. stocks advanced overnight as banks and energy companies recovered some of last week’s steep losses following the Federal Reserve policy update.

U.S. Treasury yields dropped and the dollar’s rally paused after New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams said that the current economic recovery may be choppy and he isn’t ready for the U.S. central bank to dial back the support it is giving the economy.

The Dow rallied as much as 1.8 percent to snap its five-day losing streak and post its best performance since early March, while the S&P 500 climbed 1.4 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index rose 0.8 percent.

European stocks rose on Monday after the European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said the bank will continue with its accommodative monetary policy to support the ongoing economic recovery.

The pan European Stoxx 600 rose 0.7 percent. The German DAX jumped 1 percent, France’s CAC 40 index gained half a percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 added 0.6 percent.

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