Equity indices traded with heavy losses in mid-afternoon trade. Barring the Nifty Pharma index, all other sectoral indices on the NSE traded in the red. Mixed global cues and soaring new Covid-19 cases in the country weighed on the sentiment.
At 14:54 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down over 800 points at around 48,960. The Nifty 50 index slipped 207.85 points or 1.4% at 14,687.95.
In broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.51% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.01%.
The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1337 shares rose and 1505 shares fell. A total of 182 shares were unchanged.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 809.37 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 942.35 crore in the Indian equity market on 29 April, provisional data showed
COVID-19 Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 150,124,248 with 3,161,971 deaths.
India reported 31,70,228 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 208,330 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
India for the ninth day in a row recorded fresh Covid infections over 3 lakh with the caseload inching closer to the 4 lakh mark as India reported 3,86,693 fresh cases in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, reports suggest that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a meeting of the Union Council of Ministers on Friday to discuss the prevailing Covid situation in the country. The meeting, to be held virtually on Friday morning, could also be attended by some top government officials besides Union ministers, according to the report.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Bank index slipped 2.61% to 32,834.75, falling for second trading session. The index lost 2.63% in two days.
HDFC Bank (down 3.98%), ICICI Bank (down 3.15%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 2.44%), RBL Bank (down 2.26%), Bandhan Bank (down 1.32%) and SBI (down 1.18%) were top losers in banking space.
AU Small Finance Bank tumbled 10.2%. The small finance bank reported 38% jump in net profit to Rs 169 crore in Q4 FY21 from Rs 122 crore in Q4 FY20. Total income was at Rs 1569.01 crore in Q4 FY21, up by 14.8% from Rs 1366.60 crore in Q4 FY20. Net interest income (NII) increased by 18% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 656 crore during the quarter. The bank said that in Q4 FY21, NII was impacted due to interest reversals of Rs 66 crore on account of NPA tagging of borrower accounts in compliance with RBI circular of 7th April. The bank had made Rs 38 crore of provisions against these reversals which were utilized during the quarter. The NII growth was, however, aided by a reduction in cost of funds by 86 bps. On the asset quality side, gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at Rs 1,502.82 crore as on 31 March 2021 as against Rs 302.73 crore as on 31 December 2020 and Rs 457.78 crore as on 31 March 2021.
Earnings Impact:
Aptech rose 0.49%. The company’s consolidated net profit stood at Rs 9.71 crore in Q4 FY21 over a net loss of Rs 7.28 crore in Q4 FY20. Consolidated net sales dropped 26.2% to Rs 29.45 crore in Q4 FY21 as against Rs 39.90 crore in Q4 FY20. Separately, the company informed that Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, chairman, non-executive -non independent director of the company has tendered his resignation from the position of chairman and director on 29 April 2021 with immediate effect.
Jay Bharat Maruti soared 18.8% after the company’s consolidated net profit jumped 105.4% to Rs 20.17 crore in Q4 FY21 from Rs 9.82 crore in Q4 FY20. Net sales increased 34.9% to Rs 540.98 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20. Profit before tax in the fourth quarter stood at Rs 31.66 crore, up by 125.3% from Rs 14.05 crore reported in the same period last year.
Numbers to Track:
In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee fell to 74.0725 compared with its previous closing of 74.07.
The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 6.04% as compared to its previous close of 6.059%.
MCX Gold futures for 4 June 2021 settlement rose 0.17% to Rs 46,807.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback’s value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.17% to 90.748.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for June 2021 settlement fell 42 cents to $67.63 a barrel. The contract increased by 1.92% to settle at $68.56 in the previous trading session.
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