Extending gains to the third consecutive day, Indian share markets rose to their highest level in more than six weeks today and ended on a strong note.

Benchmark indices rose sharply in the last hour of trade, tracking positive cues from Asian stock markets and amid heavy buying in metal and automobile stocks.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 606 points (up 1.9%) and the NSE Nifty closed higher by 172 points (up 1.8%).

The BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index ended their day up by 1%.

On the sectoral front, gains were largely seen in the metal sector, finance sector and automobile sector.

Asian stock markets finished on a positive note as investors counted down to more big earnings, a Federal Reserve policy decision and key American economic data.

As of the most recent closing prices, the Hang Seng was up 0.2% and the Shanghai Composite stood higher by 0.4%.

Gold prices are trading down by 0.3% at Rs 45,927 per 10 grams.

The rupee is currently trading at 75.63 against the US$.

Also, note that the coronavirus impact has shaken markets worldwide. For the BSE Sensex, FY20 was the second worst year post FY08, the year of the global financial crisis.

Good Time to Start Investing Now?

Naturally, there is an atmosphere of fear all around.

Is it time to sell stocks now? Will the correction get worse?

History has shown that after years like the one we had just now, the next 3 years are good for the markets. In fact, these corrections are the rare times when you find businesses with solid fundamentals at reasonable valuations.

If you can find good businesses that can survive the current crisis, you will do well in the long run.

Moving on, market participants were tracking Hexaware Technologies' share price as the company announced its March quarter result (Q4FY20) today.

You can read our recently released Q4FY20 results of other companies here: Wipro, TCS, Infosys, HDFC Bank, Tata Elxsi, ACC, CRISIL, Mindtree, Ambuja Cement, IndusInd Bank.

In news from the banking sector, shares of Axis Bank slipped as much as 6% today after the private lender posted a loss of Rs 13,877.8 million in the quarter ended March 31, 2020, hit by a spike in provisions and contingencies.

The bank had a net profit of Rs 15,050.6 million in the same period last year.

The bank made massive Rs 77.3 billion provisions in Q4FY20, of which Rs 30 billion worth provisions were due to coronavirus uncertainty.

Axis Bank's operating profit for the quarter was Rs 58.5 billion, up 17% YoY from Rs 50.1 billion in Q4FY19.

The bank's net interest income (NII) grew 19% YoY to Rs 68.1 billion during the March quarter from a year ago. NII for FY20 rose 16% YoY to Rs 252.1 billion from a year ago.

The bank said its growth in deposits continued to drive loan growth. Its total deposits grew 19% YoY on a quarterly average basis.

Savings account deposits grew 13% YoY while current account deposits grew by 11%, YoY.

The bank's loan book grew by 15%, with retail loans up 24% and corporate loans up by 11%.

Axis Bank also announced a joint venture with Max Financial Services (MFS), to become joint venture partners in Max Life Insurance. Under the arrangement, Axis Bank will hold 30% stake in Max Life post transaction closure, thus making Max Life a 70:30 joint-venture between MFS and Axis Bank.

Moreover, the private lender's board approved a proposal to borrow funds in Indian or foreign currency up to Rs 35 billion.

Axis Bank share price ended the day down by 3.6%.

Moving on to news from the pharma space, Strides Pharma Science said it has developed and commercialized Favipiravir antiviral tablets and stressed that the drug has demonstrated positive outcomes in COVID-19 treatment globally.

In a BSE filing, the company said, "the drug has demonstrated positive outcomes, including a reduction in the duration of COVID-19 and improved lung conditions for the patients."

The filing added that Strides is the first Indian company to have commenced the export of Favipiravir tablets. Strides have developed Favipiravir tablets in 400mg and 200mg strengths for convenient dosage administration.

The product is a generic version of Avigan of Toyama Chemical, Japan.

Strides has also entered into a preferred arrangement with a leading Indian API manufacturer for the supplies of Favipiravir API.

Strides Pharma Science share price ended the day up by 20%.

Speaking of the pharma sector, in December 2019, co-head of Research at Equitymaster, Tanushree Banerjee had predicted that pharma could be the sector to see a big rebound in 2020.

And rightly so, most pharma companies have re-emerged as the safer bets for investors in the ongoing market turmoil. Earlier this month, the Indian rupee touched a new record low of Rs 76.92 against the US dollar. Most pharma companies generate their revenues through exports. Hence, a depreciating rupee is a positive development for them.