Sensex jumps 467 points; Nifty at 14,860

After falling close to 3% in the last four trading sessions benchmark Indian equity indices opened with a gap up on Thursday, owing to firm global cues after the Federal Reserve pledged to keep the monetary policy and rates unchanged and projected a rapid jump in U.S. economic growth this year as the COVID-19 crisis eases.

In opening trades Sensex was at 50,269 gaining 467 points or 0.94%, Nifty50 was up 139 points or 0.94% at 14,860.

27 of 30 Sensex stocks opened in green. Bajaj Finance leads the pack with gains of 2.93%, followed by ONGC, Axis Bank, L&T and SBI up in the range of 1.5-1.75%. On the downside, Infosys lost almost 1.5%, whereas Dr Reddys & HCL Tech were down 0.53% and 0.29% respectively.

Barring Nifty IT all sectoral indices opened with gains. The Nifty Metal index rose the most up 1.90% while Nifty Bank, Nifty Auto & Nifty Realty climbed over 1% and Nifty FMCG index was up 0.50%.

Market breadth was positive as 1,332 shares advanced compared to 390 shares declining while 493 shares remained unchanged.

Broader markets underperformed the benchmark indices as BSE MidCap & BSE SmallCap were up by 0.56%.

Stocks in spotlight

IRCTC said that there has been no major impact of terminating mobile catering contracts in this FY 2020-21 and the impact, if any, will be reassessed on the resumption of regular train services and subject to the outcome of the ongoing litigation.

Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) has emerged as the lowest bidder (~Rs.10,800 Crore) for the fleet mode tender floated by Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) for the 6×700 MW Turbine Island Package Projects.

Punjab National Bank (PNB) informed that a wholly-owned subsidiary of the bank namely PNB Cards & Services has been incorporated on 16 March 2021 by the Registrar of Companies, Delhi to undertake the non-financial support services related to the credit card business of the bank.

HFCL has bagged an order worth Rs.221.16 crore from Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation., for the design, manufacture, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of telecommunication systems for Kanpur Metro and Agra Metro Project.

Wonderla Holidays has announced its decision to temporarily suspend the services of its food takeaway and home delivery initiative ‘Wonder Kitchen’.

Global markets

Overseas, Asian stocks are trading higher Thursday after the Federal Reserve pledged to keep the monetary policy and rates unchanged and projected a rapid jump in U.S. economic growth this year as the COVID-19 crisis eases.

In the U.S., the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at record highs on Wednesday after the Fed predicted a fast economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and said it would maintain its interest rate at close to zero. It was the first time the Dow closed above 33,000 points.

While the Fed expects benchmark interest rates to remain near zero for the next two years, the central bank upgraded their economic outlook to reflect expectations for a stronger recovery from the pandemic-triggered recession. Gross domestic product is expected to grow 6.5% in 2021 before cooling off in later years.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in a press conference that the Fed would need to see material and sustained move in inflation above 2% before considering changes to its current easy policy stance.