Sensex, Nifty off day's low

Key equity indices pared losses in mid-afternoon trade. Consumer durable stocks tumbled. The Nifty managed to hold above the 14,650 mark amid considerable volatility. Negative global cues and rising Covid cases in India spoiled sentiment.

At 14:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 276.11 points or 0.55% to 49,582.13. The Nifty 50 index declined 54.8 points or 0.37% at 14,689.20.

The broader market bucked the trend. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.75%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.59%.

Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 1506 shares rose and 1459 shares fell. A total of 220 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

Moody’s Analytics stated that India’s economy will grow by 12% in 2021 following a 7.1% contraction last year, as near-term prospects have turned more favourable. A stronger than expected December quarter GDP growth of 0.4% following a 7.5% contraction in the previous three months has turned India’s near-term prospects more favourable, it said.

Meanwhile, gold imports, fell 3.3% to $26.11 billion during April-February 2020-21 from $27 billion in April-February 2019-20, according as per the commerce ministry data. India is the largest importer of gold.

India’s consumption of petroleum products over the year-earlier fell at the worst pace since August 2020. The aggregate demand for petroleum and related products, including auto and industrial fuels, dropped 4.9% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in February 2021, according to provisional data released by the Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell. The consumption in absolute terms stood at 17.21 million metric tonnes (MMT) in February 2021 as compared with an average of 18.17 MMT over the last three months.

Numbers to Track:

In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2021 settlement fell 19 cents to $64.53 a barrel. The contract gained nearly 2% or $1.25 to settle at $64.53 a barrel in the previous session.

The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 6.171% as compared to its previous close of 6.193%.

In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee rose to 72.375, compared with its previous closing of 72.52.

MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2021 settlement shed 0.72% to Rs 44,699.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback’s value against a basket of currencies, rose 0.03% to 91.95.

Buzzing Index:

The S&P BSE Consumer Durables index declined 1.09% to 32,077.89. The index gained 0.22% on Friday.

Among the index constituents, Dixon Technologies (India) (down 5.02%), Crompton Greaves Consumer Electrical (down 2.02%), Whirlpool of India (down 0.99%), Blue Star (down 0.95%) and Titan Company (down 0.94%), Rajesh Exports (down 0.88%), VIP Industries (down 0.82%) and TTK Prestige (down 0.69%) edged lower.

On the other hand, Amber Enterprises India (up 2.12%), Orient Electric (up 1.29%), and Bajaj Electricals (up 0.89%) edged higher.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Sandhar Technologies rose 3.93% to Rs 222 after the company said it entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Unicast Autotech for acquiring aluminium die casting business.

KNR Constructions rose 0.95% to Rs 207.20 after the company received a letter of acceptance (LoA) for a road construction project in Karnataka worth Rs 1,100.88 crore. The project involves four-laning of the Bangalore-Mangalore section, including the six-lane flyover at Kalladka town, of NH-75 on EPC basis.

RailTel Corporation of India jumped 5.4% to Rs 137.60 after the PSU company received a work order amounting to Rs 153.15 crore from Central Coalfields. The order entails establishment of MPLS-VPN network of higher bandwidth on rental basis for 5 years.

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