Sensex jumps 1,030 points, Nifty ends near 15,000 mark

National Stock Exchange (NSE), abruptly shut its cash and derivatives segment, following a glitch which froze stock prices, triggering panic among investors. Trading was halted at 11:40 am and resumed only at 3:30 pm.

In the extended session, Sensex climbed 1,073 points or 2.16% per cent to 50,824, while NSE Nifty advanced 293 points to reclaim the 15,000 level.The domestic equity benchmarks ended with strong gains in the extended trading session on Wednesday. Bank shares led the charge. The Nifty ended near the 15,000 mark.

At close,  Sensex, jumped 1030 points or 2.07% to 50,781. The Nifty 50 index added 274 points or 1.86% to 14,982.

HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, and HDFC, who gained anywhere between 3-5%, were the top gainers among the 23 stocks that ended in the green.

On the downside, Dr Reddy’s Labs, TCS, Sun Pharma, Asian Paints and Power Grid lost in the range of 0.5-1.5% and closed as top laggards on the index.

“On re-opening, equity markets witnessed sharp gains with Sensex rallying 1000 points (+2.1%) while Nifty almost touched 15,000 once again. Embargo lifted on grant of Government business to private banks led to interest in banks across. Nifty Bank has rallied 3.6% with Private Banks like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank gaining  the most,” said Hemang Jani, Head of Equity Strategy – Broking & Distribution of Motilal Oswal Financial Servcies

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.77%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.08%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1854 shares rose and 1081 shares fell. A total of 164 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

In a tweet, the Office of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: Embargo lifted on grant of Govt business to private banks. All banks can now participate. Private banks can now be equal partners in development of the Indian economy, furthering Govt’s social sector initiatives, and enhancing customer convenience.

Consequently, the Nifty Bank index surged 4.03% to 36,532.10. The index declined by 5.9% in the past six sessions.

HDFC Bank (up 5.42%), Axis Bank (up 5.15%), Federal Bank (up 4.55%), RBL Bank (up 4.33%), ICICI (up 4.85%), IDFC First Bank (up 4.75%), Bandhan Bank (up 3.10%), SBI (up 3.06%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 2.51%), Punjab National Bank (up 2.07%), IndusInd Bank (up 1.78%) and Bank of Baroda (up 1.32%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Tata Consumer Products will replace GAIL (India) in the benchmark Nifty 50 index from 31 March 2021. Tata Consumer Products fell 0.46% to Rs 624.25 while GAIL (India) lost 0.54% to Rs 146.55.

NTPC fell 0.48% to Rs 103.05. The state-run enterprise executed a share purchase agreement with GAIL (India) to buy its 25.51% shareholding in Ratnagiri Gas & Power and exit from Konkan LNG subsequently.

Nava Bharat Ventures soared 10.90% to Rs 65.10 after the company said its board will consider a share buyback on 26 February 2021.

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail (ABFRL) jumped 5.88% to Rs 178.15 after the company announced a strategic partnership with Indian designer Tarun Tahiliani to form a new entity that will soon launch a contemporary men’s ethnic wear brand.

Tata Power Company rose 2.17% to Rs 94. The power producer said that it had raised Rs 900 crore by allotting 9,000 unsecured, redeemable, taxable, listed, rated NCDs on private placement basis.

Global Markets:

Most European stocks were trading higher on Wednesday as investors digest remarks from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday, as he attempted to ease some worries around higher interest rates and inflation.

Asian stocks declined across the board on Wednesday as investors turned cautious, despite Powell’s statements.

Wall Street reversed course late Tuesday, with the S&P 500 and the Dow whipsawing to positive territory by the closing bell in a tug-of-war between stocks that thrived amid lockdowns and those that stand to benefit most from a reopening economy.

Powell indicated that the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) was nowhere close to pulling back on its support from the economy as it will still take sometime for it to achieve the employment and inflation goals. He added that inflation is still ‘soft’ and that the Fed is committed to current policy.

The Conference Board released a report showing consumer confidence has improved more than expected in the month of February. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index rose to 91.3 in February from a downwardly revised 88.9 in January.