Sensex vaults 750 points, Nifty reclaims 10,800; 4 factors behind the rally

Indian shares were trading high a day after suffering strong losses, with the benchmark Sensex vaulting over 750 points and the Nifty reclaiming 10,800 in the morning trade on July 15.

At around 1120 hours, the Sensex was 739 points, or 2.05 percent, up at 36,772 and the Nifty was trading 209 points or 1.97 percent, higher at 10,816.

BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices, however, lagged the benchmarks, as they were up 0.93 percent and 1.19 percent, respectively.

Here are top 4 triggers behind the market rally:

Vaccine hopes

Zydus Cadila on July 15 said it had begun human trials for its potential coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine across multiple sites.

As per the Clinical Trial Registry of India (CTRI) data, updated on July 4, Phase-1 in which the vaccine will be tested for safety is expected to be completed in 84 days. Phase-2 during which the vaccine will be tested for safety, efficacy, will compared with placebo and it is expected to take 84 days.  ZyCoV-D, a plasmid DNA vaccine, was found in the pre-clinical toxicity studies, Zydus has said.

Separately, the first COVID-19 vaccine tested in the US revved up people's immune systems just the way scientists had hoped, researchers reported, with the shots poised to begin key final testing.

The experimental vaccine, developed at the National Institutes of Health, and Moderna Inc, will start its most important step around July 27: a 30,000-person study to prove if the shots really are strong enough to protect against the coronavirus.

Positive global cues 

Indian market rose in sync with the overnight gains in the US market. Wall Street logged strong gains, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending more than 2 percent higher.

Among Asian peers, Kospi climbed up to a percent while Nikkei jumped over a percent. Japanese stocks rose on July 15 to a five-week peak as encouraging results from a coronavirus vaccine study and optimism about swift economic growth supported expectations that corporate earnings will pick up in the second half of the year, Reuters reported.

Strong gains in IT, financials

Strong gains in select IT and financial heavyweights such as Infosys, TCS, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC and Axis Bank boosted the equity markets.

IT stocks rose after Wipro's June quarter consolidated profit grew by 2.8 percent sequentially to Rs 2,390.4 crore, supported by other income (up 10 percent QoQ) and good operating performance.

"We expanded the margins during the quarter, despite lower revenues, on the back of solid execution of several operational improvements and rupee depreciation. We also continued to sustain robust cash generation with operating cash flows at 174.9 percent of net income," Jatin Dalal, Chief Financial Officer, said.

Experts are of the view that Wipro's numbers were good and the start of the earnings season has been satisfactory, so far.

Strong support from Reliance

Shares of Reliance Industries rose more than 2 percent to hit their fresh 52-week high of Rs 1,964.50 on BSE ahead of the company's AGM.

In terms of index contribution, Reliance featured among the top contributors to the rise in the Sensex.

India’s most-valued private company Reliance Industries (RIL) will hold its 43rd Annual General Meeting on July 15. The oil-to-retail major recently crossed Rs 12 lakh crore in market capitalisation, becoming the first listed Indian entity to achieve the feat.

Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.