Sensex rallies over 1800 pts, Nifty above 8600 level

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex soared over 1,800 points in afternoon session on Friday amid hopes of a stimulus package as Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a financial task force to combat the Covid-19 pandemic's economic fallout.

After starting on a volatile note, the BSE barometer was trading 1,848.07 points or 6.53 per cent higher at 30,136.30 at 1330 hours.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty was trading 515.50 points, or 6.24 per cent, up at 8,778.95.

ONGC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying up to 15 per cent, followed by TCS, Infosys, HUL, Ultratech Cement, Tech Mahindra and Asian Paints.

On the other hand, IndusInd Bank was the only laggard.

The Indian rupee erased its morning gains and trading lower by 6 paise at 75.04 per dollar versus thursday's close 74.98

According to traders, investor sentiment turned positive on hopes of an economic stimulus to support the economy in wake of coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on thursday announced setting up of a task force under Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman which will take necessary actions "in the near future" after analysing the coronavirus pandemic situation.

According to government sources, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will hold a meeting with MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari, Animal Husbandry Minister Giriraj Singh, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel on Friday to assess the situation in order to work out a package.

Calling for "resolve and restraint" to fight coronavirus, Modi asked the entire country to observe 'Janta curfew' on Sunday.

In a nearly 30-minute national broadcast, he asked people to stay indoors and work from home as much as possible while underscoring the dangers of coronavirus, saying the world has never seen a crisis as grave as this.

The novel coronavirus cases in India rose to 195 on Friday after 22 fresh cases were reported from various parts of the country, according to the Health Ministry data.

Globally, the death toll from the virus has risen to over 9,800 with more than 232,650 cases in 158 countries and territories.