Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], Apr 13 (ANI): Equity benchmark indices closed 1.3 per cent higher on Tuesday as the government fast-tracked emergency approvals for foreign-produced Covid vaccines amid alarming spike of coronavirus infections across India.The BSE SP Sensex closed 661 points or 1.35 per cent higher at 48,544 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 194 points or 1.36 per cent to 14,505.

Except for Nifty IT which dropped by 3.3 per cent and pharma which dipped by 1.2 per cent, all other sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green with Nifty PSU bank up by 4.5 per cent, private bank by 3.2 per cent, auto by 4.3 per cent and metal by 3.4 per cent.

Among stocks, MahindraMahindra moved up by 7.7 per cent to Rs 810 per share. Tata Motors accelerated by 5.4 per cent and Maruti Suzuki by 4.6 per cent.

Private lenders also ticked up with Axis Bank advancing by 4.4 per cent and ICICI Bank by 3.9 per cent. Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, JSW Steel, ONGC and HDFC too traded with a positive bias.

However, Tata Consultancy Services dropped by 3.9 per cent on profit booking. A day earlier, the IT software major had posted 15 per cent jump in its net profit for March quarter year-on-year at Rs 9,246 crore.

Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Infosys and HCL Technologies also cracked along with pharma majors like Dr Reddy's and Cipla.

Meanwhile, Asia share markets were cautious after US markets weakened as investors anticipated the start of corporate earnings seasons.

Japan's Nikkei rose by 0.72 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.15per cent. South Korea's Kospi was 1.07 per cent higher. (ANI)