Mumbai, March 31: Amid the COVID 19 scare and spike in the cases, there is a streak of positivity as the Indian equity market opened in the green in opening deals. The benchmark Sensex rose 652.93 points, or 2.3%, to start at 29,093.25, while the Nifty 50 index was up 199.85 points, or 2.4%, at 8,480.95.

Even Japan's Nikkei 225 and Hang Seng index in Hong Kong traded 0.8% higher in early deals. While Shanghai Composite index in China climbed 0.7% and Korea's Kospi rose 1.6%. SGX Nifty, which indicates the movement for Indian equities, was up more than 1% in the morning trade.

While the lockdown has put many economies in grave danger , the Indian rupee appreciated by 8 paise to 75.51 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday tracking positive opening in domestic equities.

Forex traders said the rupee is trading in a narrow range as the higher opening in domestic equities supported the local unit, while sustained foreign fund outflows and strengthening of the American currency weighed on it. At the interbank foreign exchange the rupee opened at 75.52, then gained ground and touched 75.51, registering a rise of 8 paise over its previous close.

On Monday, rupee had settled at 75.59 against the US dollar.

It has been observed by traders that sentiments are subdued and the coronavirus pandemic will impact domestic as well as global economies. Meanwhile, the World Bank has estimated that the cornavirus outbreak will cause economic growth to slow significantly this year in China and other East Asian-Pacific countries leaving millions into poverty.
The bank has underlined the fear that under a worse-case scenario, the region could suffer its sharpest downturn since a devastating currency crisis more than two decades ago.

The bank's report released on Monday projected that growth in the region would slow to 2.1% this year from 5.8 per cent in 2019 under a "baseline" forecast in which economic recovery takes hold this summer.

But under a worse case, in which the adverse effects of the virus spillover into next year, the region's economy would contract 0.5 per cent, the bank estimates.