Barometers hover near day's high; fertilizer stocks rally

Equity indices were hovering near day's high in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty was hovering above 14,750 mark. Value buying emerged after a heavy selling in the previous trading session. Positive global cues also boosted sentiment.

At 14:32 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, surged 754.35 points or 1.54% at 49,854.34. The Nifty 50 index advanced 214.7 points or 1.48% at 14,743.35.

The broader market was trading firm. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.42% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.57%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1,903 shares rose and 1,087 shares fell. A total of 196 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 114,078,673 with 25,30,723 deaths. India reported 1,68,627 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 157157 deaths while 1,07,86,457 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Economy:

The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) stood at 57.5 in February 2021, highlighting a strong improvement in operating conditions that was broadly similar to that recorded in January (57.7). The headline figure remained above its long-run average of 53.6.

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.

The Central government's fiscal deficit soared to Rs 12.34 lakh crore or 66.8% of the revised Budget estimates at the end of January 2021 of the current fiscal. The fiscal deficit at the end of January 2021 in the previous financial year was 128.5% of the Revised Estimates (RE).

Meanwhile, the country's foreign exchange reserves increased by $169 million to $583.865 billion in the week ended 19 February 2021, as per the data released by RBI. In the previous week ended 12 February 2021, the reserves had declined by $249 million to $583.697 billion. It had touched a record high of $590.185 billion in the week ended 29 January 2021 this year.

Buzzing Segment:

Fertilizers stocks were in demand. National Fertilizers (up 20%), Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers (up 20%), Fertilizers & Chemicals Travancore (up 18.49%), Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals (up 11.68%), Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers (up 11.65%) and Gujarat State Fertilizers (up 8.55%) advanced.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 6.202% as compared to its previous close of 6.229%.

In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee appreciated to 73.35, compared with its previous closing of 73.4775.

MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2021 settlement rose 0.44% to Rs 45,937.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, rose 0.13% to 90.993.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2021 settlement added $1.19 to $65.61 a barrel. The contract slipped 2.56% to settle at $64.42 a barrel in the previous session.

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