Indices hit day's high on strong European signals

Key barometers firmed up further and hit the day's high in early afternoon trade, tracking a firm opening in European shares. The Nifty crossed the 10,500 mark. At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 338.63 points or 0.95% at 35,973.58. The Nifty 50 index was up 66.50 points or 0.64% at 10,517.95.

The broader market underperformed. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.02% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.12%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1120 shares rose and 1168 shares fell. A total of 163 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 27 stocks advanced while 23 stocks declined.

Global Markets:

European shares opened higher after the Bank of England (BoE) surprised the market on Wednesday and slashed its benchmark interest rates by 50 bps to 0.25%. BoE also announced a new term-funding scheme to support small and medium-sized companies, as well as new steps to help commercial banks lend more. The announcement follows a similar decision by the US Federal Reserve last week.

Asian markets fell across the board on Wednesday as investors continue to track developments around government stimulus with the coronavirus continuing to spread.

Concerns surrounding the global coronavirus outbreak have sent markets on a roller-coaster ride in recent days. The disease has infected at least 119,284 and has taken 4,300 lives so far, according to the latest figures from the World Health Organization.

In US, stocks closed sharply higher on Tuesday after a volatile session that restored about half of the losses seen Monday when stocks saw the biggest one day fall since the 2008 financial crisis.

Tuesday's rebound was partly fueled by a White House push to persuade Congress to agree to a fiscal stimulus package that may include a payroll tax cut to mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Indian Stocks in Spotlight:

Yes Bank (up 29.41%), Bharti Infratel (up 6.23%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (up 6.09%), Coal India (up 5.10%) and Hero MotoCorp (up 4.33%) were the top gainers.

GAIL (India) (down 8.26%), Tata Steel (down 3.77%), BPCL (down 3.07%), Tata Motors (down 2.70%) and Indian Oil Corporation (down 2.16%) were the top losers.

JSW Steel was down 2.03% to Rs 224.35. The company said its crude steel production was up 5% to 13.20 lakh tonnes in February 2020 from 12.57 lakh tonnes in February 2019. The production of flat rolled products rose 7% to 9.82 lakh tonnes in February 2020. Production of long rolled products remained muted at 3.08 lakh tonnes.

Infosys fell 1.68% to Rs 692.05. The IT major announced that it has joined the Qualcomm Smart Cities Accelerator Program to offer end-to-end solutions for smart stadiums, smart venues and smart event management. This program is designed to connect cities, municipalities, government agencies, and enterprises with Qualcomm Technologies' ecosystem to help deliver greater efficiencies, cost savings, and broad access to solutions for smart cities' problems today.

Asian Paints rose 1.27% to Rs 1893.20. The paint maker's promoters have released pledge on 1.39 crore shares, representing 1.45% shareholding in the company.

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