Benchmarks hit day's high; bank stocks in demand

Key equity indices extended early gains and hit fresh intraday high in morning trade. The Nifty was trading near the 15,000 mark. Banks, metals and energy shares were in demand. At 10:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 471.44 points or 0.94% to 50,876.76. The Nifty 50 index added 157.55 points or 1.07% to 14,919.10.

Investors rejoiced after the US Senate approved the U.S. President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 1% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 1.30%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1891 shares rose and 730 shares fell. A total of 173 shares were unchanged.

Meanwhile, the Brent crude crossed the $70 mark following the attack on a Saudi Arabian oil facility. Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry reportedly said on Sunday that a drone hit a petroleum tank farm at Ras Tanura port, one of the world's largest oil shipping ports, and shrapnel from a ballistic missile fell near Saudi Aramco's residential area in Dhahran. A ministry spokesman said in a statement on state news agency that neither attack resulted in any injury or loss of life or property.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 116,822,839 with 2,593,073 deaths. India reported 188,747 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 157,853 deaths while 108,39,894 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Bank index rose 1.07% to 35,603.85. The index declined 3.13% in the past two sessions.

Bank of Baroda (up 2.54%), Axis Bank (up 2.40%), Punjab National Bank (up 1.80%), SBI (up 1.75%), IDFC First Bank (up 1.57%), RBL Bank (up 1.55%), Bandhan Bank (up 1.20%), HDFC Bank (up 0.85%) and ICICI Bank (up 0.44%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Muthoot Finance fell 3.84% to Rs 1240.20 after the company said that its chairman M. G. George Muthoot passed away on Friday. The media reports cited police saying the chairman fell from the fourth floor of his house in New Delhi at around 9 pm on Friday.

NMDC jumped 4.32% to Rs 138.80. The company's board will meet on Thursday, 11 March 2021, to consider interim dividend for the financial year 2020-21. Meanwhile, the company has left the price of lump ore unchanged at Rs 5,100 per tonne and Rs 4,210 per tonne for fines in its latest price revision announced on Saturday (6 March 2021).

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