(Bloomberg) -- India’s benchmark equity index rebounded after completing its worst February since 2016 as investors viewed the six-session decline as overdone.
The S&P BSE Sensex advanced 1.6% to 38,895.17, as of 9:48 a.m. in Mumbai, while the NSE Nifty 50 Index also climbed 1.6%. The Sensex plunged 7% last week, its biggest five-day decline in a decade, as a surge in coronavirus cases roiled markets across the world. The relative strength index for the Sensex dropped below 30, a level that indicates the gauge is oversold to some analysts.
The regional MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 1%, the most since Feb. 6, after marking its worst slide in 16 months on Friday. Global central banks advocated policy support to coronavirus-hit economies as the death toll topped 3,000.
Strategist View
“Fear of the pandemic will recede only when facts start coming out,” said Umesh Mehta, Mumbai-based head of research at Samco Securities Ltd. “We expect the index to stay volatile with sessions of gains followed by selling as more details on the spread of coronavirus emerge.”
The Numbers
- All 19 sector indexes compiled by BSE Ltd. rose, led by a gauge of metal companies that advanced the most in more than three weeks
- Reliance Industries Ltd. added 2.5% and was the biggest boost to the Sensex, while while NTPC Ltd. had the largest gain, increasing 3.1%; 28 of 30 Sensex constituents rose
