Sensex reclaims 50,000 mark; Nifty jumps 91 points

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Benchmark Indian equity indices opened on a positive note as Asian peers climbed up tracking Wall Street as bond yields eased, easing concerns around rising inflation.  In opening trades, Sensex gained 318 points or 0.64% at 50,089. Broader market index Nifty50 is traded at 14,828 jumps 91 points or 0.62%.

26 of 30 Sensex stocks opened in green. IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, HCL Tech, ICICI Bank and Titan were the top gainers on the Sensex rising over 1%. On the downside, Powergrid lost 1.10%, Kotak Mahindra Bank, NTPC & Asian Paints were down in the range of 0.30-0.45%.

Sectorally all indices were trading in green with Nifty Auto leading the pack with gains of 0.93%. Nifty Bank was up 0.81% while Nifty IT rallied 0.64%, Nifty Pharma jumped 0.58%, Nifty FMCG rose 0.44% and Nifty Metal index was up 0.31%.

Market breadth favoured the bulls as 1,381 shares advanced compared to 353 stocks declining while 496 shares remained unchanged.

The broader market outperformed benchmark indices as BSE MidCap was up 0.94%, while BSE SmallCap was up 0.86%.

Stocks in spotlight Financial stocks will be in focus as the Supreme Court would deliver its judgment in the loan moratorium case today, 23 March 2021, as per reports. A batch of pleas was moved before the apex court last year seeking a waiver from interest on interest in respect of EMIs which were not paid by the borrowers after availing the loan moratorium scheme. The six-month loan moratorium scheme was extended by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Maruti Suzuki India said that over the past year the cost of company’s vehicles has been impacted adversely due to increase in various input costs. Hence, it has become imperative for the company to pass on some impact of the above additional cost to customers through a price increase in April, 2021. This price increase shall vary for different models.

Bharti Airtel said that the company has further agreed on March 22, 2021 for acquisition of additional 2,914,100 equity shares (approx. 3.33%) at Rs. 10/- per equity share in Avaada MHBuldhana Private Limited, a special purpose vehicle formed for the purpose of owning and operating the Captive Power Plant, in terms of the regulatory requirement for captive power consumption under electricity laws. The indicative time for completion of the acquisition is April 30, 2021.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) said that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed a contract with Mahindra Defence Systems (MDSL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company for supply of 1,300 Light Specialist Vehicles to the Indian Army, at a cost of Rs 1,056 crore. The induction of vehicles is planned to be completed in four years.

KEC International has secured new orders of Rs 1,429 crore across its various businesses.

Edelweiss Financial Services said that Edelweiss Group (Edelweiss) has announced the completion of a strategic investment by PAG in Edelweiss Wealth Management consequent to receipt of all regulatory approvals and closure of all formalities. Madhav Infra Projects received the award for Solar Project from Gujarat State Electricity Corporation (GSECL) for a contract value of Rs 87.27 crore.

Global markets

Overseas, Asian stocks are trading mixed on Tuesday, with Chinese search giant Baidu making its debut in Hong Kong.

U.S. 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. It last stood at 1.6964%.

U.S. 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.