Sensex rises for second day, closes 259 points higher; Dr Reddy’s hits five week high

New Delhi: The BSE benchmark index ended the second consecutive day with a gain. The BSE S&P Sensex closed 259 points at 39,303 while Nifty 50 rose by 83 points to close at 11,605.

All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange traded in positive except Nifty media and PSU bank. Nifty realty gained by 2.2 per cent, pharma by 2 per cent and auto by 1.5 per cent.

Among stocks, Dr Reddy’s was the top gainer of the day with its stock hitting five week high. It’s stocks jumped by 4.44% to close at Rs 4,639.60 per share after the announcement that it would cooperate with Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to conduct clinical trials and distribute Sputnik V vaccine in India for treatment of COVID-19.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) today announced tie-up with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories to conduct the clinical trials and distribution of Sputnik V vaccine in India. As per the deal, RDIF will supply 100 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to Dr. Reddy’s.

Mahindra & Mahindra accelerated by 4 per cent to Rs 638.05 per share while Bajaj Auto moved up by 3.5 per cent and Tata Motors by 1.7 per cent.

Realty major DLF spurted by 5.2 per cent to close the day at Rs 163.60 per share while Prestige Estate Projects gained by 3.9 per cent and Oberoi Realty by 3 per cent.

However, those which lost were IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, JSW Steel, Bharti Airtel and ONGC.
Meanwhile, Asian shares were mixed as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s view on the economy at its policy meeting.

Japan’s Nikkei was up by 0.09 per cent as Yoshihide Suga was formally voted as the country’s next prime minister.