Investors bet on FMCG, pharma amid Covid-led restrictions; Sensex up 42 pts

The broader markets, however, braved the volatility and settled higher. The S&P BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices added 1 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively by close.

4:50 PM

TECH VIEW :: Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities

The short term trend of Nifty remains range bound. The market is witnessing an alternative movement of up and down over the last four sessions. As per the present set up, one may expect Nifty to retest the crucial overhead resistance around 14880 levels in the short term, before showing another round of weakness from the highs. A sustainable move above 14900 could open a sharp upside for the market. Immediate support is placed at 14600.

4:45 PM

TECH VIEW :: Ashis Biswas, Head of Technical Research at CapitalVia Global Research

The market failed to show resilience to stay above the Nifty 50 Index level of 14800. It is suggested that technical factors are aligned to support a short-term consolidation in the near future, followed by an attempt of a breakout above the 14900, sometimes mid of the month. As the immediate support is visible at level 14440, The market expects any corrective wave-down to find support around 14400-14450. As such, the traders are advised to refrain from building a fresh buying position until the market witnesses a correction to the 14450 level or a breakout above 14900.

4:35 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities

After a sharp sell-off in the previous session, Indian benchmark equity indices ended marginally higher on April 6 amid some volatile moves. At close, the Nifty was up 45.70 points or 0.31% at 14,683.50.

 

Volumes on the NSE were in line with recent averages. Among sectors, Pharma, Metals, Realty, FMCG, rose the most while Bank & Media fell the most.  Metals index closed at its highest level since April 2011. BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rose 0.8-1 percent.

 

Nifty has formed an inside day compared to the previous session’s high-low, suggesting no fresh directional clues. The intraday volatility has however become smaller which is a good sign. Greater participation of small and midcaps has resulted in a healthy advance decline ratio. 14574-14876 could be the band for the Nifty for the near term.

4:24 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

Market is attempting a strong pullback from yesterday’s low as the announced lockdown is unlikely to really dampen the economic growth trajectory. There is a great hope that economic restrictions, summer season and vaccination will lead to a fall in covid cases. The pullback is also supported by a strong rally happening in global markets. The domestic market was awaiting the RBI policy with an expectation to maintain the status quo, future commentary on growth & inflation will be highly viewed with an optimistic outlook on FY22

4:15 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking

In a highly volatile trading session, the Indian indices swung both ways before ending the session in green. The Nifty index managed to end with gains of 0.4% at 14,700 levels. The broader markets witnessed healthy buying interest as both the Midcap and Smallcap index ended higher by nearly 1%. Amongst the sectors, except Banking and Consumer Durables, all the other indices ended in green wherein Healthcare, Realty and Telecom were the top gainers.

 

In the near term, we expect the markets to remain volatile as investors try to gauge the impact of restrictions imposed by state government to curb the spread of the virus. Moreover, the upcoming RBI monetary policy and earnings announcement from companies would also keep the volatility high

4:03 PM

MARKET RECAP :: S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities

While the Indices were more or less flat in Tuesday's trade it was a big day indeed for Midcaps were not only the Midcap 100 but also a host of them across sectors displayed stellar up moves on renewed investor appetite. While the tussle between the Virus and the Vaccine continues to add to the volatility, savvy investors were seen accumulating Midcap stocks having higher growth prospects

3:57 PM

BSE Snapshot

3:51 PM

Sector of the day :: Tata Consumer, Dabur shine as investors pick FMCG stocks

3:49 PM

Sector of the day :: Nifty Pharma index gains 2% as Covid-19 cases surge

3:46 PM

Broader market check :: SmallCap winners of the day

3:45 PM

Broader market check :: MidCap index remains in the positive zone through the day

3:42 PM

Stocks that helped Sensex recoup losses

3:39 PM

Sectoral trends on the NSE

3:38 PM

Sensex Heatmap at Close

3:33 PM

CLOSING BELL

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex had risen over 400 points while the broader Nifty50 index had surged 140 points in the early deals after a weak trading session on Monday. However, the indices pared gained and ended mildly higher soon after the Delhi government imposed night curfew in the city till April 30 with immediate effect in the wake of rising coronavirus cases. The city joins the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Rajasthan to impose restrictions.

 

Individually, the benchmark Sensex index settled at 49,201 levels, up 42 points, or 0.09 per cent, and the Nifty closed at 14,683 levels, up 46 points or 0.3 per cent. In the intra-day deals, the indices had hit a low of 48,936 and 15,574, respectively.

3:23 PM

Nifty Heatmap

3:17 PM

Archegos fiasco :: Credit Suisse overhauls management as it takes $4.7 billion hit

Credit Suisse said on Tuesday it will take a 4.4 billion Swiss franc ($4.7 billion) hit from dealings with Archegos Capital Management, prompting it to overhaul the leadership of its investment bank and risk division.

 

The scandal-hit bank now expects to post a loss for the first quarter of around 900 million Swiss francs. It is also suspending its share buyback plans and cutting its dividend by two thirds. READ MORE

3:05 PM

This stock from Dolly Khanna's portfolio has rallied 121% so far in 2021

Shares of Neuland Laboratories hit a new high of Rs 2,425 as it rallied 6 per cent on the BSE in intra-day trade on Tuesday. The stock has surged 16 per cent in the past three trading days. Thus far in the calendar year 2021, the stock of the pharmaceutical company has zoomed 121 per cent as compared to a 3 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. READ MORE

2:56 PM

Global markets :: Europe's STOXX 600 hits record high

Europe’s benchmark equity index hit a record high on Tuesday, recovering all of its pandemic-driven losses as investors bet on a speedy global economic recovery, spurred by bumper stimulus spending and COVID-19 vaccination programmes.

European traders returned from a long weekend to push the STOXX 600 up 0.8% to 435.7 points. It has climbed more than 60% from last year’s lows and surpassed its previous all-time high of 433.90 points in February 2020.

 

The German DAX rose 1.1% to add to its recent record-setting rally, France’s CAC 40 was up 0.6%, also fully recovering from last year’s crash and UK’s FTSE 100 jumped 1.2%.

(Source: Reuters)

2:50 PM

Tarun Bajaj appointed new Revenue Secretary, Ajay Seth new DEA Secy

In a major bureaucratic reshuffle, the union government on Tuesday approved the appointment of Tarun Bajaj as new revenue secretary under the Ministry of Finance. Bajaj was serving as secretary to the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA). Tarun Bajaj took additional charge of Secretary, Department of Revenue, after the superannuation of Ajay Bhushan Pandey. The appointment committee of the cabinet has also approved the appointment of Ajay Seth as new secretary for DEA. READ MORE

2:47 PM

Indices volatile; Sensex trades in the red

2:39 PM

BS Opinion :: Status quo policy likely with focus on growth

Five wise men and a wise woman — the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) —will meet this week to decide on policy rates in Asia’s third-largest economy. This is the fourth meeting of the Indian central bank’s new rate-setting body, which was reconstituted in October last year, and the first in fiscal year 2021-22.

 

Ahead of the meeting, the government announced its decision to keep the “flexible” inflation target of the monetary policy framework unchanged at 4 per cent with a two percentage points band on either side for the next five years, till 2025-26. READ MORE

2:39 PM

NEWS ALERT | Wipro appoints Sarah Adam-Gedge as MD for Australia and New Zealand

2:28 PM

India Inc must separate CMD post, deadline won't be extended: Sebi

“Listed entities were initially required to separate the roles of chairperson and MD/ CEO from April 01, 2020 onwards. However, based on industry representations, an additional time period of two years was given for compliance. The regulation will now be applicable to the top 500 listed entities by market capitalization, with effect from April 01, 2022. As at the end of December 2020, only 53 per cent of the top 500 listed entities had complied with this provision. I urge the eligible listed entities to be prepared for this change in advance of the deadline,” said Ajay Tyagi, chairman of Sebi, in a speech at the CII Corporate Governance Summit. READ MORE

2:16 PM

Steel prices hiked by Rs 5,000 a tonne on global rally, iron ore rises too

Steel producers said that prices of hot rolled coil – a benchmark for flat steel (used in automobile, domestic appliances and construction) – have been increased by Rs 4,500-5,000 a tonne; prices of long steel (used in infrastructure and construction) have increased by up to Rs 3,000 a tonne. READ MORE

2:05 PM

Adani Ports surges 10% on robust business update for March quarter

Shares of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) surged 10 per cent to Rs 814.95, also its fresh record high, on the BSE in the intra-day trade on Tuesday after the company reported a 41 per cent year on year (YoY) jump in cargo volume business at 26 million metric tonnes (MMT) in March. The stock of the Adani Group company surpassed its previous high of Rs 768.40, touched on March 8. READ MORE

1:50 PM

March Auto Sales | UK JLR sales up 10.4% at 18,966 units Vs 17,175 units (YoY)

Jaguar UK sales down 19.1% at  3,800 units Vs 4,794 units (YoY)

 

Land Rover UK sales up 21.8% at 15,086 units Vs 12,381 units (YoY)
 

1:43 PM

Monetary Policy: GDP growth projections may be left unchanged

The recent rise in Covid-19 cases in India is a stark reminder of the uncertain times we live in. It also underlines the message that central banks have been trying to convey to the markets, i.e. policy needs to be shaped by actual outcomes rather than forecasts.

 

To quote Fed chair Powell from his mid-March speech “The fundamental change in, in our framework is that we, we’re not going to act pre-emptively based on forecasts for the most part. READ MORE

1:33 PM

Heranba Industries falls below issue price, hits lowest level since listing

Shares of Heranba Industries slipped 3 per cent to hit a new low of Rs 606.55 on the BSE in intra-day trade on Tuesday, falling below its issue price of Rs 627 per share. The stock of agrochemicals company was trading at its lowest level since listing on March 5. It has now corrected 36 per cent from its high of Rs 944.95 touched on its debut day. READ MORE

1:23 PM

KKR raises $15 billion in Asia's biggest fund as buyout-backed deals rise

US-based KKR started marketing the new Asia fund towards the end of 2019, initially targeting $12.5 billion, sources familiar with the situation have said previously."Companies across Asia Pacific are recognising their potential to become not only national and regional champions but also global leaders in their industries," Ashish Shastry, KKR's co-head of Asia Pacific private equity, said in a statement announcing the fund-raising. READ MORE