The Indian Express : Mar 26, 2020, 05:06 PM
Mumbai: The topline equity indices on the BSE and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) continued its winning streak for the third consecutive day, settling over 3.5 per cent higher on Thursday following the announcement of the economic package by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and expiry of March-series futures and options (F&O) contracts.The S&P BSE Sensex settled at 29,946.77, up 1,410.99 points (4.94 per cent), while the Nifty 50 index rose 323.60 points (3.89 per cent) to end at 8,641.45. In the intraday trade, the Sensex climbed as much as 1,564.13 points (5.48 per cent) to briefly reclaim the 30,000-mark at 30,099.91. This apart, the 50-share NSE benchmark had scaled 431.20 points (5.18 per cent) to 8,749.05.Earlier in the afternoon, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled a Rs 1.70 lakh crore economic package which involved free foodgrain and cooking gas to poor over the next three months, one-time payment to women and poor senior citizens, higher wages to workers and measures to boost the liquidity of employees as it looked to contain the impact of unprecedented nationwide lockdown.On the Sensex, gains were led by IndusInd Bank, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Bharti Airtel, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bajaj Auto. On the other hand, Maruti Suzuki India, Tech Mahindra and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries were the top losers on Thursday.All the sectoral indices on NSE settled in the green territory. The Nifty Bank index, the key sectoral index on the exchange, settled over 6 per cent higher on Thursday led by gains in IndusInd Bank, Bandhan Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank. This apart, the Nifty FMCG index, another key gainer, ended nearly 5 per cent higher led by Marico, ITC, Godrej Consumer Products and Britannia Industries.