The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex index rose 0.5 per cent to pass the 50,000 mark for the first time ever, extending recent gains on the back of strong corporate earnings, especially in India’s bellwether IT sector. — Reuters pic
Asia’s third-largest economy has struggled to revive demand, contracting by nearly a quarter between April and June last year as a hastily-announced shutdown put millions out of work even as cases climbed, making it the second-most infected country in the world. “The absence of renewed lockdowns means that economic activity will normalise quite quickly,” said Ashutosh Datar, an independent economist.