Sensex tanks 395 points; Nifty at 14,790

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Benchmark indices equity indices opened weak on Monday amid rising COVID-19 cases in the country. Maharashtra imposed new curbs to control the transmission rate of the contagion on Sunday, April 4. The state will be put under night curfew from 8 pm to 7 am from April 5 and a weekend lockdown in the state till the end of the month.

In opening trades Sensex slipped 395 points or 0.79% at 49,634. While the broader market index Nifty50 was at 14,790 down 76 points or 0.68%.

Infosys, HCL Tech, TCS, Tech Mahindra & Ultratech Cement were the top gainers on the Sensex. IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Auto, SBI & Axis Bank were the laggards on Sensex.

Barring the Nifty IT & Nifty Metal index all other sectoral indices were in the red. Nifty Bank lost around 1.67% followed by Nifty Realty tanking 1.04%, Nifty Auto fell 0.89%, Nifty FMCG index slipped 0.32% and Nifty Pharma index was trading flat.

The market breadth was favouring the bears as 1,034 stocks declined compared to 712 shares advancing while 532 scrips remained unchanged.

The broader market was outperforming the benchmark indices as BSE MidCap index slipped 0.19% and BSE SmallCap sank 0.24%.

Stocks in spotlight: Maruti Suzuki India said that Suzuki Motor Gujarat Private Limited (SMG), a 100% subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation for the production of automobiles in India, has completed construction of Plant C, and started production from April 2021. With production starting at Plant C, which has an annual production ability of 250,000 units, together with Plant A and Plant B, the total ability of SMG will be 750,000 units. Together with Maruti Suzuki’s production ability of 1.5 million units, Suzuki’s production ability of automobiles in India will be 2.25 million units. All automobiles that will be produced in SMG will be supplied to Maruti Suzuki.

Hero MotoCorp sold 576,957 units of motorcycles and scooters in March 2021, registering a growth of 72% over the corresponding month in the previous year. The company had sold 334,647 units in March 2020.

Tata Motors has completed the transfer of its Defense business with effect from 1 April 2021 to Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) for an upfront consideration of Rs 227.7 crore (which is subject to closing balance sheet adjustments). The transfer has been completed through a slump sale as per the Scheme of Arrangement approved by National Company Law Tribunal at Mumbai and Hyderabad.

TVS Motor Company registered sales of 322,683 units in March 2021 as against 144,739 units in March 2020.

Eicher Motors registered total sales of 66,058 units in March 2021 as against 35,814 units in March 2020.

NTPC informed that based on achievement of approved norms, Unit-2 of 660 MW capacity of Nabinagar Super Thermal Power Project (3 x 660 MW) of Nabinagar Power Generating Co. Limited (a wholly-owned subsidiary of NTPC Limited) has successfully completed the trial operation and consequently included in the installed capacity of NTPC Group with effect from 31 March 2021.

Wipro has completed the take over of METRO-NOM GMBH and METRO Systems Romania S.R.L. for a purchase consideration of EUR 52.04 million based on the financials at the time of completion of the transaction.

The Board of Directors of Britannia Industries declared an interim dividend of Rs. 62 per equity share for the Financial Year 2020-21. The record date for determining the eligibility of shareholders for payment of an interim dividend has been fixed as April 10.

Adani Enterprises along with its Wholly Owned Subsidiary company, Gare Palma II Collieries Private Limited (“GPIICPL”) has signed Coal Mining Agreement (“CMA”) with Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Limited (“MAHAGENCO”) for the development and operation of Gare Palma Sector II Coal Mine.

Olectra Greentech and Evey Trans received a letter of award for 50 electric buses from one of the state transport authorities under FAME-II scheme of the Government of India. These buses will be delivered over a period of 12 months.

Global markets: Overseas, shares in Japan nudged higher on Monday as investors cheered a strong bounce in U.S. job growth last month amid accelerating vaccine rollout. Markets in Australia, mainland China and Hong Kong are closed today for holidays.

In the U.S., the S&P 500 surged on Thursday to its first-ever close above the 4,000 mark, lifted by gains in Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet, as well as optimism about a recovering U.S. economy.

The Labor Department reported Friday that nonfarm payrolls increased by 916,000 in March, the highest since August 2020, while the unemployment rate fell to 6%.