Brokers react while trading during the presentation of the federal budget at a stock brokerage firm in Mumbai, February 1, 2018. REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade/Files
BENGALURU, November 24 (Reuters) - Banking stocks helped India's Nifty 50 index crack the key 13,000 psychological level on Tuesday, as signs of progress on a COVID-19 vaccine spurred hopes for a faster economic recovery.
The NSE Nifty 50 has gained about 12% so far this month on the back of upbeat vaccine trial results and strong inflows from foreign institutional investors (FII), and was up 0.74% at 13,022.60 by 0515 GMT. The S&P BSE Sensex was 0.75% higher at 44,408.11.
Monthly FII inflows of $6.5 billion into Indian stocks in November have so far been the best since at least December 2006, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.
Most Nifty sub-indexes were trading higher, with banks leading the pack. HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the top two boosts to the Nifty 50, rising 2.3% each.
On the vaccine front, AstraZeneca's encouraging interim results for its COVID-19 shot were followed on Monday by manufacturer Serum Institute's announcement that it would focus first on supplies to India, raising hopes that the vaccine could become available quickly in the world's second worst-hit country.
"There are still worries of a second wave of the virus, especially in a country like India, where the second wave has just started in a few cities," said Siddharth Khemka, head of research for retail at Motilal Oswal in Mumbai.
"A vaccine allays that fear. The expectation is that things will normalise faster."
Among companies, Future Retail rose 10% and was on course to gain for a fourth straight session. India's antitrust body approved its deal with Reliance Industries on Friday.
Shares in India's top automaker, Maruti Suzuki, climbed 2.7% after a report said it had raised its production estimate for the year.
Other Asian markets were also trading higher on Tuesday as U.S. President-elect Joe Biden was given the go-ahead to begin his White House transition.
