Indian stocks set to rebound on Fed boost after Monday’s historic fall

Indian shares were set to follow Asian peers higher on Tuesday after their worst single-day fall in history, as sentiment improved after the U.S. Federal Reserve pledged to spend as much as needed to steady the financial system.

India’s NSE stock futures listed on the Singapore Exchange were 5.87% higher by 0300 GMT.

On Monday, the blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index and the S&P BSE Sensex crashed 12.98% and 13.15%, respectively, their biggest plunges on record. The rupee hit a fresh record low against the dollar.

The Fed said on Monday it will back purchases of corporate bonds, backstop direct loans to companies and “soon” will roll out a program to get credit to small and medium-sized business. It also said it will expand its asset purchases by as much as needed to stabilize financial markets.

The news helped E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 climb 3%, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan jumped 4.2%, to more than halve Monday’s drop.

In India, several Indian states will remain under a lockdown till March 31, as the country has registered 341 cases of the coronavirus, with nine deaths as of Monday.