Sensex jumps 455 points; Nifty nears 14,500

After witnessing over 3% selloff in the previous two volatile sessions benchmark Indian equity indices opened with a gap up on Friday, amid positive global cues. In opening trades, Sensex rose 455 points or 0.94% at 48,896; while the broader market index Nifty 50 was trading at 14,486 gaining 161 points or 1.12%.

28 of 30 Sensex stocks traded in the green. M&M, L&T, NTPC, TechMahindra & Bajaj FinServ were top gainers on the Sensex. On the downside, only Powergrid & TCS lost 0.46% and 0.27% respectively.

Barring Nifty Pharma all sectoral indices were trading in green. Nifty Bank and Nifty Auto soared over 1.3%, Nifty Realty & Nifty Metal index surged around 1.2%. Nifty FMCG was up 0.92 and Nifty IT rose around 0.40 while Nifty Pharma was trading with marginal losses of 0.01%.

Overall market breadth favoured the bulls as 1,348 shares advanced compared to 356 stocks declined whereas 524 scrips remained unchanged.

Broader market marginally outperformed benchmark indices as BSE MidCap index was up 1.33% and BSE SmallCap rallied 1.22%.

Stocks in spotlight

Tata group stocks TCS, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Voltas, Indian Hotels, Tata Metaliks, Rallis India, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Steel Long Products, Tata Power, Tata Coffee, Tinplate Company of India, Tata Chemicals, Tata Teleservices Maharashtra, Tata Communications and Tata Investment Corporation will be in focus. The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce on Friday its judgement on the cross-appeals filed by Tata Sons Pvt Ltd and Cyrus Investments Pvt Ltd against the NCLAT order which had restored Cyrus Mistry as the executive chairman of the over $100 billion salt-to-software Tata conglomerate.

Shares of Suryoday Small Finance Bank will make its stock market debut today. The Rs 582-crore public issue was subscribed 2.4 times. The price range for the offer was Rs 303-305 per share.

Shares of Kalyan Jewellers India will debut on the bourses today, 26 March 2021. The Rs 1,175-crore public issue received a muted response and was subscribed 2.61 times. The issue was sold in the price band of Rs 86-87 per share.

Lupin has agreed in principle to subscribe to a partnership interest in ABCD Technologies LLP (to be renamed as Indo Health Services LLP) at a cost of Rs 40 crore.

Mahindra Lifespace Developers announced the addition of a new residential project in Kalyan. The company has entered into an agreement for sale for 10.3 acres. This new project will offer approximately 7 lakh sq. ft. of carpet area and is expected to be launched in FY 2022.

Hathway Cable & Datacom said that Jio Content Distribution Holdings, Jio Internet Distribution Holdings, and Jio Cable and Broadband Holdings will sell 33,79,83,855 equity shares or a 19.09% stake in the company through an offer for sale on March 26 and March 30. The floor price has been fixed at Rs 25.25 per share.

Den Networks said that Jio Futuristic Digital Holdings, Jio Digital Distribution Holdings and Jio Television Distribution Holdings will sell 5,54,85,048 equity shares or an 11.63% stake in the company through an offer for sale on March 26 and March 30. The floor price for the sale has been fixed at Rs 48.50 per share.

Somany Home Innovation said that Group Atlantic, France, will invest Rs 68.3 crore for a 50% stake in the water heater business subsidiary of the company.

Global markets

Overseas, Asian stocks rose in Friday trade following an overnight rebound on Wall Street.

U.S. stocks staged a late-day comeback on Thursday, boosted by economic comeback plays as the market rebounded from a two-day losing streak.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged Thursday that fiscal help from Congress and accelerated vaccine distribution has allowed the U.S. to recover faster than expected.