Equity Markets Open Positive On Global Cues, Asian Paints Rise 6% To Emerge Top Gainers, HCL Tech Worst Performer

Bank of Baroda surged 9 per cent after the lender exceeded expectations to report a profit of Rs 507 crore in the March quarter of FY20.

(File Photo/ Getty)

New Delhi: Domestic equity markets on Wednesday opened positive tracking global peers as the 30-stock barometer Sensex jumped 241 points at 35,670 levels and the Nifty50 index touched the psychological level of 10,500. The markets rose on the back of Asian Paint which climbed over 6 per cent after it announced March quarter. Bajaj Finance and ITC rose 4 per cent and 3  per cent each, repectively whereas HCL Tech slipped 1.2 per cent to emerge as top losers. Bank of Baroda also rose 9 per cent in the opening session after the bank exceeded expectations to report a profit of Rs 507 crore in the March quarter of FY20. It reported a net profit of ₹507 crore for the three months to March due to lower provisions for bad assets. As per the analyst poll by Bloomberg, the lender was expected to post a net loss of ₹161 crore in the March quarter.

Around 85 companies, including Canara Bank, Indian Oil Corporation, GAIL, and India Cements, will announce their March quarter earnings on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks also remained upbeat on Wednesday. Even as the rise in new coronavirus infections impacted the investor sentiments but the US President Donald Trump assured that the trade deal with China is intact brought back the momentum in the market.

The lender reported a net profit of ₹507 crore for the three months to March due to lower provisions for bad assets. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 futures rose 0.15per cent in early deals, while Japan's Nikkei was modestly higher. Kospi and Hang Seng also jumped. Wall Street remained upbeat with all three major indexes on Tuesday soared as the economy showed signs of revival and optimist about the ability of the US government to tackle the resurgence of covid-19. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.5 per cent higher at 26,156.10 points, the S&P 500 gained 0.43 per cent to 3,131.20 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.74 per cent to end at a fresh record of 10,131.37. Nasdaq saw uptick driven by at least three brokerages which rose their price targets for Apple Inc after it announced it would use its own chips for Mac computers.