Benchmarks hit day's high; select auto stocks correct

Key equity barometers extended gains and hit record high levels in mid-morning trade. At 11:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 354.17 points or 0.69% to 51,702.94. The Nifty 50 index has added 115.40 points or 0.76% to 15,231.20.

The Sensex hit a record high of 51,747.50 and the Nifty hit a record high of 15,237.90 in mid-morning trade. Both the indices have gained over 11% in seven straight sessions.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.49% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.26%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1434 shares rose and 1213 shares fell. A total of 158 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 106,460,230 with 2,324,916 deaths. India reported 143,625 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 155,158 deaths while 104,96,308 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index slipped 0.63% to 10,990.95. The index jumped 3.14% in the previous session.

Mahindra & Mahindra (down 2.39%), Tata Motors (down 1.95%), Bajaj Auto (down 0.98%) and Ashok Leyland (down 0.33%) declined.

Maruti Suzuki (up 0.96%), Bharat Forge (up 0.89%), TVS Motor Company (up 0.73%), Hero MotoCorp (up 0.51%) and Eicher Motors (up 0.10%) bucked the trend.

Earnings Impact:

AstraZeneca Pharma India lost 4.24% to Rs 3734.05 after the company's net profit declined 21.2% to Rs 21.05 crore in Q3 FY21 from Rs 26.7 crore in Q3 FY20. Net sales for Q3 FY21 stood at Rs 200.25 crore, a 10.5% fall over Rs 223.86 crore recorded in Q3 FY20.

Torrent Pharmaceuticals slumped 6.14% to Rs 2,588.95. On a consolidated basis, the drug maker's net profit jumped 18.3% to Rs 297 crore on a 2.5% increase in net sales at Rs 1,972 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. Total revenues rose 1% to Rs 1,995 crore in Q3 FY21 as against Rs 1,966 crore in Q3 FY20. Gross margins were at 72% and operating EBITDA margins were at 30%.

Gross profit rose 1% to Rs 1,433 crore in Q3 FY21 over Rs 1,424 crore in Q3 FY20. Operational EBITDA jumped 12% to Rs 607 crore in Q3 FY21 as against Rs 540 crore in Q3 FY20 driven by cost efficiencies. R&D spend grew 2% to Rs 112 crore in Q3 FY21 from Rs 110 crore in Q3 FY20.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks advanced on Tuesday following overnight gains on Wall Street that saw the major indexes rallying to record closing highs.

In US, Wall Street reached all-time closing highs on Monday as investor optimism was stoked by prospects of a speedier economic recovery from the global health crisis, driven by increased stimulus and an accelerated vaccine rollout.

Biden has set a goal to administer at least 100 million COVID vaccine doses during his first 100 days in office, but he warned it will be very difficult to achieve herd immunity in the U.S. by the end of summer.

Commodities prices pointed to renewed optimism in the global economic recovery. Brent oil extended an advance above $60 a barrel on signs the global market is tightening and demand is improving. Bitcoin jumped to a record after Tesla Inc. bought $1.5 billion of the cryptocurrency.

Investors are taking comfort from vaccine rollouts and signs of progress on stimulus, though worries remain about stretched valuations. With inflation expectations near the highest since 2013, questions have also begun to be raised about when the so-called reflation trade in bonds could start to threaten equities.

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