BENGALURU (Reuters) – Indian shares rose to high levels Monday to begin the first trading week of the new year, after the country granted emergency use approval to two coronavirus vaccines over the weekend, raising sentiment investment.
The NSE Nifty 50 blue index rose 0.50% to 14,087.95 and the BSE Sensex S&P benchmark rose 0.43% to 48,077.13 before 0347 GMT.
India’s drug regulator on Sunday approved the emergency use of two coronavirus vaccines – one developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and the other by local company Bharat Biotech.
The country, which has the second highest number of coronavirus diseases in the world, is expected to begin a major vaccination program within about a week.
The Nifty gained nearly 15% in 2020, the best year since 2017, while the Sensex gained 15.75%. Both indices recovered more than 86% from a virus-driven crash in March, spurred by liquidity support measures from global central banks and progress on COVID-19 vaccines.
In Mumbai trading, Nifty Bank Index rose 0.69% and Nifty IT index rose 0.80%. Tata Motors was the biggest percentage winner on the Nifty 50, rising 2.4% after the company on Friday reported a 21% rise in December domestic sales.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific segments outside of Japan exceeded hopes that the release of coronavirus vaccines would eventually help the global economy recover.
Reporting by Anuron Kumar Mitra in Bengaluru; Edited by Shailesh Kuber