Hindustan Times : May 14, 2020, 09:42 AM
Mumbai: The BSE Sensex opened Thursday’s session more than 500 points lower as global markets remained subdued over worries of reopening economies from Covid-19 shutdown too soon.Stocks retreated in London, Tokyo and Paris on Wednesday. Wall Street futures too pointed to small gains on the open in the United States yesterday.Snapping a two-session losing streak, the BSE Sensex had vaulted 637 points on Wednesday as investors cheered the government’s Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package for the coronavirus-hit economy.After rallying 1,474.36 points during the day, the 30-share benchmark surrendered some gains to settle 637.49 points or 2.03 per cent higher at 32,008.61.Similarly, the NSE Nifty jumped 187 points, or 2.03 per cent, to finish at 9,383.55.Banking stocks gained the most during trading on Wednesday, and the Nifty banking index soared 4.2 per cent. HDFC Bank Ltd and ICICI Bank Ltd were the two biggest boosts to the Nifty 50. State-run Canara Bank Ltd surged 12.8 per cent.Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Tuesday announced the new financial package on top of the previously announced measures for a combined stimulus of Rs 20 lakh crore to revive demand and jumpstart growth.He said the package will be around 10 percent of the GDP and “will play an important role in the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ (self-reliant India campaign)”.The special economic package will have emphasis on land, labour, liquidity and laws, and will be for “our labourers, farmers, honest tax payers, MSMEs and cottage industry”, PM Modi said.