Sensex ends above 50,000; Nifty above 14,800
Banks stocks were in demand after the apex court refused to extend the moratorium on bad loans for borrowers hit by the pandemic.
Domestic equity benchmarks ended with decent gains after a volatile session on Tuesday. Banks stocks were in demand after the apex court refused to extend the moratorium on bad loans for borrowers hit by the pandemic brought on by COVID-19. The Nifty closed above the 14,800 mark.
At close, BSE Sensex, was up 280 points or 0.56% to 50,051. The Nifty 50 index advanced 78 points or 0.53% to 14,814.
UltraTech Cement was leading the list of gainers, followed by IndusInd Bank, Titan, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, SBI, and HDFC Bank were up in the range of 1-3%.
On the downside, ONGC, Power Grid, ITC, NTPC, HDFC fell up to 2.28%, were the top laggards in a firm market.
The broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices. The BSE MidCap index added 0.95%. The BSE SmallCap index rose 0.75%.
Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1663 shares rose and 1294 shares fell. A total of 216 shares were unchanged.
Among the sectors, Nifty Metal, FMCG and Media ended in the red while Nifty PSU Bank jumped 2.91%, Nifty Bank and Private Bank 1.73% each.
COVID-19 update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 12,36,91,979 with 27,23,315 deaths. India reported 3,45,377 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,60,166 deaths while 1,11,81,253 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the vaccination for people above 45 years of age from 1 April 2021.
Supreme Court judgement
The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to extend the six-month loan moratorium period offered by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last year, saying that it is a ‘policy decision’ on the part of the Centre and RBI.
The top court also said that a complete waiver of interest during the moratorium period could not be granted as banks have to pay interest to account holders and pensioners.
However, the apex court directed that no compound or penal interest shall be charged from borrowers for the six-month loan moratorium period and the amount already charged shall be refunded, credited or adjusted.
SC was pronouncing its verdict on a batch of pleas by various trade associations seeking an extension of loan moratorium and other reliefs in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The RBI had on 27 March 2020 issued the circular which allowed lending institutions to grant a moratorium on payment of instalments of term loans falling due between 1 March and 31 May 2020, due to the pandemic. Later, the moratorium was extended till 31 August 2020.
Following the SC verdict, the Nifty Bank index rose 1.73% to 34,184.40. The index declined 1.63% in the previous session.
Bandhan Bank (up 3.69%), IDFC First Bank (up 2.94%), Punjab National Bank (up 2.37%), IndusInd Bank (up 2.33%), ICICI Bank (up 2.29%), HDFC Bank (up 2.23%), Bank Of Baroda (up 2.14%), Axis Bank (up 1.95%), SBI (up 1.46%), Federal Bank (up 1.17%) and RBL Bank (up 0.49%), advanced while Kotak Mahindra Bank declined 0.55%.
Global markets
Shares in Europe and Asia were trading lower amid worries regarding rising inflation worldwide.
Chinese search giant Baidu made its debut in Hong Kong on Tuesday, with shares rising more than 1% in morning trade from their issue price.
US stocks jumped on Monday led by technology shares as investors flocked back into growth names amid declining bond yields. The moves came as the 10-year Treasury yield declined 5 basis points to around 1.68% (1 basis point equals 0.01%), following a 14-month high touched last week.
The stabilization in bond yields provided some relief for investors fretting that heavy U.S. spending on the recovery could reignite inflation and force tighter central-bank policy. The Biden administration is reportedly considering a multitrillion-dollar economic plan to follow the stimulus package signed earlier this month.
US trial data released Monday showed the Covid vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford is 79% effective in preventing symptomatic illness and 100% effective against severe disease and hospitalization.
With inputs from Capital Market – Live News