Financials lift Sensex 508 pts up; pharma stocks, HCL Tech miss D-St rally

Investors booked profit in the pharma counters after a healthy rally over the past week. The index settled 0.87 per cent down.

4:36 PM

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

Indian equity benchmark indices climbed on April 26 in line with other global peers. The Nifty opened up and made an intra day high at 1005 Hrs. It later fell making lower top lower bottom; but even then it ended 1% or 144 points higher (its biggest advance in almost two weeks) at 14485.

 

Nifty crossed 14526 but closed below it. Falling volumes on an up-day denotes caution while a healthy advance decline ratio and relatively better performance of broader indices means that the traders/investors are focused more on the broader markets than the largecaps, where there is a risk of selloff by institutions. In the near term, 14339-14405 band could offer support to the Nifty while a breach of 14526 could take the Nifty up to 14698.  

4:29 PM

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

Markets started the week on an optimistic note led by supportive global cues. After a gap-up opening, the benchmark continued its positive momentum led by healthy buying in sectors such as banking(thanks to ICICI results), metals and consumer durables. The broader markets too traded in tandem and ended higher in the range of 0.6-0.9%. Finally, Nifty closed at 14,485 levels, up by 1%. 

 

Upbeat global cues combined with supportive earnings are helping the index to hold at higher levels despite COVID challenges. Also, the recent news of various countries extending help to India in the COVID flight further boosting the sentiment. We remain cautiously optimistic as volatility is likely to remain high on the back of derivative expiry and upcoming earnings announcements. Banking, metal and pharma are showing tremendous resilience and should be preferred for long trades on dips

4:19 PM

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

The market manages to hold above the Nifty 50 Index support zone of 14400. The technical factors are aligned to support a range-bound market movement as we advance. Therefore, the short-term traders use the rally to exit while attempting to buy a dip approach. The market breadth to improve, indicating the likelihood of higher volatility in the market. A decisive breakout above 14500 is likely to turn the scenario bullish.

4:13 PM

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

With the support of strong global markets, accumulation in the domestic market increased as the rate of infection is slowing down with a flattening path. Buying interest was broad-based led by banking, realty and metal stocks with a hope that we are nearing the peak of infection. Banking stocks outshined other major sectoral indices due to the positive beginning of quarterly results. The market may remain volatile in the coming days as covid cases continue to be high, April F&O expiry and upcoming FOMC meeting

4:07 PM

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

Positive global cues coupled with good numbers from ICICI Bank ensured a strong opening on Monday for markets led by BFSI and Metals. However, we did see bouts of profit-taking in Afternoon Trade-in FMCG & Pharma stocks ahead of a big earnings day tomorrow

4:03 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Mohit Nigam, Head, PMS & Advisory at Hem Securities

Markets took a breather from the downward movement it witnessed in the past week and moved up by around 1% today. Financials were the key drivers today leading the momentum after a decent result declared by ICICI Bank. We feel that Covid related developments in the next 2 weeks, corporate results & commentary are going to be very crucial to gauge the direction of the markets in the following months. 14200 remains a key support on the downside.

3:59 PM

BSE Snapshot :: M-cap of all BSE listed firms climbs above Rs 204-trillion mark

3:57 PM

Broader market :: Vimta Labs, BGR Energy, Srei Infra lift SmallCap index

3:54 PM

Broader market :: S&P BSE MidCap index underperforms benchmarks

>> SAIL, Future Retail, Gidrej properties, and Natco Pharma end as top gainers on the index

3:51 PM

ICICI Bank, RIL :: Stocks that lifted the Sensex today

3:46 PM

Sectoral trends on the NSE

3:43 PM

Sensex Heatmap at Close

Top gainers: Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Ultratech Cemekt

Top drags: HCL Tech, Sun Pharma, HDFC Bank

3:34 PM

CLOSING BELL

Among the key headline indices, the 30-share index jumped 508 points to end the day at 48,386.5 levels. The index had started gap-up and had extended gains to hit a high of 48,668 in the intra-day deals.

On the NSE, the broader Nifty50 index settled below the 14,500-mark at 14,485 levels, up 143.6 points. Earlier today, the index had hit a high of 14,557 levels. 

3:27 PM

RIL, BP start Satellite Cluster gas field production ahead of schedule

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) and BP today announced the start of production from the Satellite Cluster gas field in block KG-D6, ahead of schedule.

 

The second of the three deep-water gas developments planned jointly, was expected to start production in mid-2021.

 

RIL and BP have been developing R Cluster, Satellite Cluster and MJ in the KG-D6 block– which together are expected to produce around 30 mmscmd (1 billion cubic feet a day) of natural gas by 2023, meeting up to 15 percent of the country’s gas demand, said RIL in its exchange filing today. READ MORE

3:14 PM

Gold gains as rising virus cases, easing dollar boost safe-haven appeal

Gold gained on Monday, as surging COVID-19 cases boosted the metal's safe-haven appeal, aided by a weaker dollar ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's meeting this week, while auto-catalyst palladium held below a record peak scaled last week.

 

Spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,778.22 per ounce by 0707 GMT. U.S. gold futures fell 0.1% to $1,775.70 per ounce. READ MORE

3:02 PM

India VIX rises over 3% to top 23 level

> VIX is a measure of market volatility

2:52 PM

Top gainers and losers on the S&P BSE Sensex at this hour

2:46 PM

Maruti Q4 preview: PAT seen up 32% YoY; commodity prices to dent margins

Buoyed by rural demand despite a slowing economy and a gradual uptick in commodity prices, the auto sector is likely to report a healthy growth in sales numbers at the aggregate level during the January – March 2021 (Q4FY21) quarter, say analysts. Operating margins, however, are likely to remain under pressure during the period under review. READ MORE

2:35 PM

Nestle confirms discussions to acquire vitamin maker Bountiful

Nestle is in discussions to buy nutritional supplement maker The Bountiful Company, the Swiss food giant said on Monday, confirming earlier reports it was close to a deal in the mid-single digit billions.

 

"Nestle S.A. today announced that it is in discussions to acquire all or part of The Bountiful Company," Nestle said, following reports last week. READ MORE

2:22 PM

NEWS ALERT :: Karnataka govt imposes 14-day lockdown starting Tuesday

>> Essential services to stay open from 6 AM to 10 AM. 

>> Construction, manufacturing, agriculture, medical sectors will continue to operate

2:21 PM

Sensex Heatmap | Top gainers & losers at this hour

2:14 PM

Mphasis surges 6% as Blackstone to buy controlling stake in firm

Shares of Mphasis jumped over 6 per cent in intra-day trade on Monday after private equity (PE) firm Blackstone Group said it will buy a majority stake in the company for a consideration of $2.8 billion. A wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), UC Investments and other long-term investors will be co-investing along with Blackstone. READ MORE

2:10 PM

Vedanta up 5% as Tamil Nadu govt allows Sterlite plant to produce oxygen

Shares of Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Ltd jumped 5 per cent to Rs 239 on the BSE in the intra-day deals on Monday amid report that Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswami has allowed the company to operate its Tuticorin plant to produce oxygen amid sharp surge in Covid-19 cases in the country.

 

According to a PTI report, an All-party meeting by Tamil Nadu CM K Palaniswami, convened earlier today, allowed Vedanta's Sterlite Industries in Tuticorin to produce oxygen for four months. READ MORE

1:57 PM

TN: Vedanta's Sterlite in Tuticorin allowed to produce oxygen for 4 months

An all-party meeting convened by the Tamil Nadu government on Monday resolved to allow Vedanta's Sterlite Industries in Tuticorin to produce oxygen for a four-month period amid surging covid cases, paving the way for the partial reopening of the copper smelter closed in 2018 over pollution concerns. READ MORE

1:43 PM

Power Grid launches PGInvIT, could offer 18 more assets in future

State-owned largest power transmission company Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) launched its Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT), becoming the first public sector company to do so. After IndiGrid and IRB InvIT fund, Power Grid InvIT (PGInvIT) will be the third publicly listed InvIT in the country and second in the power transmission sector. READ MORE

1:31 PM

Top Sensex contributors at this hour

1:21 PM

Axis Bank Q4 preview: Low provisioning likely, but asset quality may worsen

ICICI Securities expects the lender’s loan book to grow 6 per cent on year to Rs 6.04 trillion from Rs 5.71 trillion reported at the end of Q4FY20 as “the bank is not chasing growth and is lending to right people at a right price”. Sequentially, the loan book would expand from Rs 5.82 trillion.

 

The deposits are expected to grow at 8 per cent YoY and 6 per cent QoQ to Rs 6.91 trillion from Rs 6.4 trillion and Rs 6.54 trillion, respectively. READ MORE

1:05 PM

5 stocks to make your portfolio Covid-proof

The second wave of Covid-19 has hit the economy and the stock market hard with normalcy taking a backseat yet again. At the bourses, portfolio returns have turned negative, with benchmark indices declining over 4 per cent each over the past one month. However, the current market turmoil can be used as an opportunity to add Covid-related plays to ones portfolio. READ MORE

12:57 PM

Britannia Q4 preview: Here's what to look out for in the numbers

Good Day and Tiger Biscuit-maker Britannia Industries is expected to report a strong set of numbers for January-March quarter of FY21 (Q4FY21) as consumer goods’ demand reaches pre-Covid levels. Analysts forecast a high, single-digit growth in sales volume along with up to 25 per cent YoY growth in net profit for the FMCG giant, which is slated to report its Q4 results on Tuesday, April 27. READ MORE

12:46 PM

India Inc may have to keep date with filings as Sebi cites partial lockdown

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) may not extend the deadline for listed companies to file their earnings reports for the fourth quarter and the full financial year 2021.

 

However, the capital market regulator could relax compliance requirements for brokers and depository participants as India finds itself in the worst phase of the pandemic so far, according to sources. READ MORE