Sensex Ends 428 Points Higher; Energy and Healthcare Stocks Witness Buying

Wed, 19 Feb Closing

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Indian share markets continued their momentum during closing hours and ended their trading session on a positive note today.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 428 points (up 1.1%) and the NSE Nifty closed higher by 137 points (up 1.2%).

The BSE Mid Cap index ended up by 1.3% and the BSE Small Cap index ended the day up by 1.4%.

All sectoral indices were trading in the green with healthcare sector and energy sector witnessing most of the buying interest.

Asian stock markets finished on a mixed note as of the most recent closing prices. The Hang Seng stood up by 0.46% and the Nikkei was trading up by 0.89%, while the Shanghai Composite was trading down by 0.32%.

European markets were trading on a positive note. The FTSE 100 was up by 0.77%. The DAX was trading up by 0.42%, while the CAC 40 was trading up by 0.62%.

The rupee was trading at 71.48 to the US$ at the time of writing.

Speaking of Indian share markets, Tanushree is counting on 7 top stocks from the Indian stock market that will benefit from what she calls the Rebirth of India.

As per her, now is the right time to buy these stocks to profit from the Rebirth of India. You can read about them here.

In news from the commodity space, gold was witnessing buying interest today. The yellow metal held steady above the key US$ 1,600 mark today as an uptick in equities due to a drop in new coronavirus cases was offset by fears of an economic fallout.

The increase in the number of new virus cases slowed in China's Hubei province even as the death toll rose by 132 as of Tuesday. This was seen as a welcome breather and meant some gains for gold.

Market participants are now awaiting the minutes of the Federal Reserve's January 28-29 policy meeting to take cues on what effect it would have on gold prices.

We will keep you updated on all the upcoming news from this space. Stay tuned.

Speaking of gold, how lucrative has gold been as a long-term investment in India?

The chart below shows the annual returns on gold over the last 15 years...

Gold Has Been a Shining Long-Term Investment

As you can see, barring just two years - 2013 and 2015, gold has delivered positive returns in 13 of the last 15 years.

Here's what Ankit Shah wrote about this in one of the editions of The 5 Minute WrapUp...

• In fact, gold has delivered double-digit gains in 10 of the last 15 years.
  
  During the entire 15-year period, gold has shot up 555% (compounded annual return of 12.1%).
  
  During the same period, the Sensex surged 511% (compounded annual return of 12.0%). If you include dividends, the Sensex returns would be higher than gold by a couple of percentage points.
  
  One must note that the Sensex returns are not representative of the broader market returns. Moreover, gold was a no-brainer. You didn't have to study financial statements, business models and forecast future earnings growth to get a double-digit return on your investment.

Meanwhile, Vijay Bhambwani talks about how gold has been relied upon by humankind for 3000 years in one of his videos.

If you consider street inflation, your fixed deposits are giving negative yields. In times like these, Vijay considers gold as a safe haven.

So, is it the time to buy gold?

Tune in to find out...

Moving on to news from the telecom sector, Vodafone Idea share price was in focus today. The stock of the company witnessed buying interest after reports stated that the government is unlikely to invoke the company's bank guarantees for now.

This is even as the officials of the telecom and finance ministries met Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba to discuss ways to ensure that the sector retains three private players.

As per the news, the government could consider postponing or staggering other payments due to it, in order to give some flexibility to telcos to cough up money towards AGR (adjusted gross revenue) dues.

How this pans out remains to be seen. Meanwhile, we will keep you updated on all the developments from this space.

To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

For information on how to pick stocks that have the potential to deliver big returns, download our special report now!

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