Equity indices up 3 pc on COVID-19 drug hopes, Tata Motors jumps 20 pc

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 30 (ANI): Equity benchmark indices advanced on Thursday in line with global cues as positive results for experimental remdesivir drug towards COVID-19 treatment lifted investor sentiment.
Most major global markets rallied as several countries began talks about lifting the lockdown while improving market sentiments lifted crude oil prices.
At the closing bell, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 997 points or 3.05 per cent at 33,718 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 307 points or 3.21 per cent at 9,860.
Except for Nifty pharma, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were on the positive side with Nifty metal up by 7.9 per cent, auto by 6.4 per cent, IT by 5 per cent and private bank by 2.5 per cent.
Among stocks, Tata Motors accelerated by 19.96 per cent to Rs 93.75 per share while Hero MotoCorp was up by 9.2 per cent.
Metal majors witnessed handsome gains with Vedanta up by 12.2 per cent, Hindalco by 11.7 per cent, JSW Steel by 10.9 per cent and Tata Steel by 5.6 per cent.
The other prominent winners were UPL, ONGC, Bharti Infratel and GAIL. However, Sun Pharma, Hindustan Lever, Cipla, IndusInd Bank and ITC traded with a negative bias.
Meanwhile, Asian stocks rose to a fresh seven-week high, lifted by encouraging early results from a COVID-19 treatment trial.
Reports quoting Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease official, as saying that Gilead's anti-viral remdesivir will become the standard of care for COVID-19 after early results from a trial seemed to show it helped speed recovery.
The news rallied Wall Street a day earlier and lifted MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares excluding Japan by 0.8 per cent to its highest since mid-March.
Japan's Nikkei jumped by 2.14 per cent to a seven-week high. The Shanghai Composite rose by 1.33 per cent while markets in Hong Kong and South Korea were closed for public holidays. (ANI)