Sensex climbs 440 points; Nifty above 15,000-mark

Taking cues from Asain peers Indian benchmark indices opened higher for the third consecutive day on Monday. Sensex jumped 440 points to open at 50,737 while the Nifty opened at 15,064 gaining 145 points.

HDFC, L&T, SBI, ONGC & IndusInd Bank opened with gains of over 1.5%. On the downside, Bajaj Auto, Maruti, M&M & TCS were the laggards on the Sensex trading with losses of 0.10-1%.

Buyers outnumbered the sellers on NSE as 1,388 shares advanced while 293 shares declined and 530 shares remained unchanged.

All sectoral indices were trading in green with Nifty Metal leading with gains of 2.63%. Nifty Bank & Nifty Realty was up over 1%. While Nifty IT & Nifty FMCG were up around 0.30%.

The volatility index India VIX was at 22.40 levels cooling off by over 5%.

Stocks in spotlight

Shares of Reliance Industries (RIL) will be in focus. Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIL) announced that it has successfully acquired the right to use spectrum in all 22 circles across India in the recently concluded spectrum auctions conducted by the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India. The payment to be made for the right to use this technology-agnostic spectrum for a period of 20 years is Rs. 57,123 crore

Ircon International announced that the company’s promoter proposes to sell up to 4,70,25,787 equity shares of the company, representing 10% of the issued and paid-up share capital of the company on 03 March and 04 March 2021 through a separate window of the BSE and NSE. The Government may exercise an option to additionally sell 2,82,15,473 equity shares, representing 6% of the issued and paid-up share capital of the company. The floor price for the offer shall be Rs 88 per share.

Yes Bank shareholders have approved a proposal for raising ₹10,000 crore capital with the requisite majority.

State-run Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL) will pay dividend to its shareholders after the stake sale in Assam-based Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) is completed, N. Vijaygopal, director finance, BPCL, said on Tuesday.

Mahindra Lifespace Developers said the company has launched its residential project ‘Aclove’, at Chandivali, Andheri, Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The project is registered with Maharashtra RERA.

Shares of Engineers India will be in focus. Indian Oil Corporation has awarded the project for execution of consultancy for overall project management and EPCM Services (Phase II) for capacity expansion of Panipat refinery from 15 MMTPA to 25 MMTPA (P-25 Project) to Engineers India. The total awarded order value is around Rs 600 crore with a total project schedule of 40 months for mechanical completion.

Motherson Sumi Systems said that CRISIL has reaffirmed long term credit rating as AA+ and revised its outlook from Negative to Stable.

V- Mart Retail informed that the company has opened a new store, in the state of Bihar. The company has also closed two stores in the state of Assam and Uttar Pradesh respectively.

Global markets

Overseas, Asian stocks are trading mixed on Wednesday, as a private survey showed slowing services sector activity in China last month. The Caixin/Markit services Purchasing Managers’ Index came in at 51.5 for February, a decline from January’s reading of 52. PMI readings above 50 represent expansion while those below that level signify a contraction.

Japan’s services sector extended declines in February for a 13th straight month. The final au Jibun Bank Japan Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) came in at a seasonally adjusted 46.3.

U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday led by technology names, as the market gave back some of the strong gains from the previous session.

In coronavirus developments, U.S. President Joe Biden said Tuesday the country will have a large enough supply of coronavirus vaccines to inoculate every adult in the nation by the end of May — two months earlier than previously expected.