Sensex, Nifty gain over 1%

Tracking positive global cues & India GDP back in the black, Indian benchmark indices opened gap up with gains of over 1% on Monday. Sensex rose 531 points to 49,631 while the Nifty50 gained 150 points to 14,679.

29 of 30 shares on the Sensex were trading in green. ONCG, Powergrid, UltraTech Cement, M&M and IndusInd Bank were the top gainers. On the downside, Bharti Airtel was trading with losses of over 2%.

On the sectoral front, all indices were trading in green. Nifty Bank, Nifty Auto, Nifty IT & Nifty Realty were up in the range of 1-1.5%. Nifty FMCG, Nifty Metal & Nifty Pharma were up around 0.50%. India VIX also cooled off by 3.65% now at 27 levels.

In opening trades, bulls had an upper hand as 1,449 shares advanced, 269 shares declined while 530 shares remain unchanged.

The broader market was trading in line with the benchmark peers. BSE Midcap index was up 0.74% & BSE SmallCap index gained 1.17% in early trades.

India’s economy returned to growth in its fiscal third quarter after a recession earlier in 2020. Gross domestic product grew 0.4% in October-December compared with the same period a year earlier, data released by the National Statistics Office on Friday showed. That compared with revised contractions of 7.3% in July-September and 24.4% in April-June.

The output of eight core infrastructure sectors grew marginally by 0.1% in January, mainly due to growth in the production of fertiliser, steel and electricity. The core sectors had expanded by 2.2% in January 2020, according to the provisional data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on Friday.

In economic data, Markit Manufacturing PMI for February will be declared today, 1 March 2021.

Stocks in spotlight

Reliance Strategic Business Ventures, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, on Sunday announced it has raised its shareholding in investee company skyTran Inc to 54.46 per cent, acquiring an additional equity stake for a consideration of USD 26.76 million (Rs 196.9 crore).

Puravankara has entered into plotted development segment and will start six projects over the next 6-7 months with an investment of about Rs 825 crore, as it seeks to tap the rising demand of plots. The company has created a separate brand and team ‘Purva Land’ to enter into plotted development segment. To begin with, the company, a leading real estate firm in South and West India, will launch around 5.5 million sq ft area across six projects in Bengaluru, Chennai and Coimbatore where it will offer plots.

Wipro has completed the acquisition of stake in Eximius Design, a leading engineering services company with strong expertise in semiconductor, software and systems design. Earlier, the company had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Eximius Design.

MG Motor and Tata Power have jointly set up a 50kW superfast electric vehicle (EV)-charging station, making it one of the superfast charging stations in the country. The deployment of the station was in line with MG’s vision to enhance the electric vehicle-charging ecosystem with 50kW and 60kW DC stations.

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has received approval for capital investment for capacity expansion of Panipat Refinery from 15 Million Metric Tonne Per Annum (MMTPA) to 25 MMITPA along with the installation of Polypropylene Unit and Catalytic Dewaxing Unit at an estimated cost of Rs 32,946 crore. The project is expected to be commissioned by September 2024.

Bharti Airtel’s wholly-owned subsidiary — Airtel Digital has agreed to subscribe to 5,000 equity shares, translating into an equity shareholding of 10% in Ferbine on February 25, 2021. Acquisition expected to be completed on or prior to March 05, 2021.

With a focus on the fast-growing rural market, Nestle is planning to reach around 1.2 lakh villages with each having a population of over 5,000 over the next two-three years, supported by distribution expansion and some portfolio tweaking. To support the move, Nestle is also planning a communication thrust for messaging and advertising, which will be more rural centric.

Global markets

Overseas, Asian stocks are trading higher on Monday, as data releases showed China’s manufacturing activity growth slowing in February. South Korea’s markets are closed on Monday for a holiday.

A private survey released Monday showed China’s manufacturing activity in February growing at a slower pace. The Caixin/Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) came in at 50.9, a decline from January’s reading of 51.5.

China’s official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for February came in at 50.6 over the weekend, according to data released by the country’s National Bureau of Statistics. That was lower than January’s reading of 51.3 but still above the 50 level that separates expansion from contraction.

US stocks ended on a mixed note on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 469.64 points, or 1.5%, to finish at 30,932.37, after touching a session low at 30,911.37 as Wall Street struggled to shake off fears of rapidly rising rates.

The S&P 500 lost 18.19 points, 0.5%, to close at 3,811.15 as energy and financial stocks pulled back. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 72.91 points, or 0.6%, to 13,192.34 as Big Tech names rebounded after a large sell-off in the previous session amid surging bond yields. Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon each rose more than 1%.

The House passed a $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, early Saturday. The Senate will now consider the legislation.

Trade data showed that the U.S. trade deficit in goods widened to $83.7 billion in January from a revised $83.2 billion in the prior month, the Commerce Department said Friday. Imports of goods, such as consumer electronics, rose 1.1% to $218.9 billion in January. Goods imports were up 8.2% compared with a year earlier. Exports rose 1.4% to $135.2 billion, but were down 0.7% compared with one year ago.