Benchmarks hit day's high; auto shares in demand

Key equity benchmarks extended gains and hit fresh intraday high in mid-morning trade. The Nifty crossed 9000 mark supported by gains in auto stocks. Firmness in index major Reliance Industries (RIL) also boosted indices.

At 11:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, jumped 421.35 points or 1.38% at 31,058.24. The Nifty 50 index was up 100 points or 1.12% at 9,081.75.

The broader market witnessed selling. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.2% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.07%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 953 shares rose and 1012 shares fell. A total of 131 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index the breadth was positive, 28 stocks advanced while 22 stocks declined.

Global Markets:

Asian markets were trading lower on the back of sharp losses in the oil markets overnight.

In US, stocks tumbled for a second straight day on Tuesday as a collapse in US oil prices and glum forecasts by companies worsened fears of a deep economic downturn

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index gained 1.91% to 5,395.35, snapping its two-day losing streak. The index slumped 6.61% in last two trading sessions from its previous closing high of 5668.90 on 17 April 2020.

SML Isuzu (up 6.36%), Hero MotoCorp (up 3.39%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 2.73%), Escorts (up 2.68%), Bajaj Auto (up 2.44%), Ashok Leyland (up 2.04%), Eicher Motors (up 1.91%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (up 1.35%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Reliance Industrial Infrastructure jumped 5.24% to Rs 266 ahead of its Q4 results today.

Tata Steel fell 0.09% to Rs 265.80. The steel major announced provisional production and sales number for the quarter ending 31 March 2020. For Tata Steel India, the steel manufacturer reported a 5.8% rise in production to 4.74 million tons in Q4 March 2020 as against 4.48 million tons reported in Q4 March 2019. Sales declined 14.62% to 4.03 million tons in Q4 March 2020 as against 4.72 million tons reported in the same period last year.

Federal Bank rose 0.92% to Rs 43.80 after the bank said its board gave in-principle nod to acquire additional equity stake of up to 4% of IDBI Federal Life Insurance Co from IDBI Bank. Federal Bank currently holds a 26% stake in IDBI Federal Life Insurance Co. Post purchase the total stake may increase up to 30%. The announcement was made after market hours on Tuesday, 21 April 2020.

Meanwhile, Federal Bank issued provisional business update for the January-March 2020 quarter after market hours on Tuesday, 21 April 2020. The Current Account-Savings Account (CASA) jumped 7% to Rs 46,451 crore (provisional) in Q4 March 2020 over Rs 43,388 crore in Q4 March 2019. Total deposits rose 13% to Rs 1,52,290 crore (provisional) in Q4 March 2020 over Rs 1,34,954 crore in Q4 March 2019. Gross advances rose 11% to Rs 1,24,126 crore (provisional) in Q4 March 2020 from Rs 1,11,829 crore in Q4 March 2019. Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) stood at 195.01% (provisional) in Q4 March 2020 as against 164.20% in Q4 March 2019 and 181.30% in Q3 December 2019.

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