Market ends near day's high

The market ended with strong gains on Tuesday, snapping losses in the past seven trading sessions. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 479.68 points or 1.26% at 38,623.70. The Nifty 50 index was up 170.55 points or 1.53% at 11,303.30.

A relief rally was seen across global stock markets on hope that global central banks will introduce monetary policy measures to mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus. The media reported that the Group of Seven (G-7) industrial powers were expected to issue a statement this week on countering the coronavirus outbreak. Meanwhile, a statement by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) also boosted investors confidence.

In broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 1.79% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 1.25%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1248 shares rose and 1159 shares fell. A total of 152 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, the market breadth remained positive with 48 stocks advancing and 2 stocks declining.

Economy:

RBI on Tuesday said, "Globally, financial markets have been experiencing considerable volatility, with the spread of the coronavirus triggering risk-off sentiments and flights to safe haven. Spillovers to financial markets in India have largely been contained. Growing hopes of coordinated policy action to mitigate a broader fallout to economic activity has boosted market sentiment today. The RBI is monitoring global and domestic developments closely and continuously and stands ready to take appropriate actions to ensure orderly functioning of financial markets, maintain market confidence and preserve financial stability."

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe extended gains while Asian shares ended mostly higher on Tuesday on hopes that central banks will coordinate some kind of monetary policy response to lessen the economic impact of the coronavirus. Global financial ministers and central bankers will hold a conference call on Tuesday to coordinate their response to the outbreak.

As per reports, new cases of the virus continue to decline in China, where the outbreak of the flu-like illness began. But cases are rising elsewhere with South Korea, Iran and Italy the worst hit countries outside China.

In US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average scored its biggest one-day percentage gain in nearly 11 years on Monday, as stocks bounced back sharply from the previous week's selloff, with the rebound fuelled by expectations that policy makers will move to cushion the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the global economy. The Dow Jones rallied 1,294 points, most in its history.

Buzzing Indian Index:

The Nifty IT index was up 1.92% to 15,723.20, extending its winning run to second day. The index has risen 3.35% in two trading days.

HCL Technologies (up 2.76%), Persistent Systems (up 1.85%), TCS (up 1.61%), Wipro (up 1.47%), Tech Mahindra (up 0.97%), Hexaware Technologies (up 0.79%) and MphasiS (up 0.19%) advanced.

MindTree (down 1.64%) and Oracle Financial Services Software (down 1.02%) declined.

Infosys advanced 0.06% at Rs 748.55. The IT major, in an exchange filing made after market hours on Monday, announced a global alliance to help enterprises accelerate their digital transformation journey using the IBM public cloud. The collaboration will help enterprises to transition, modernize and transform their enterprise workloads and applications by tapping into the security, open innovation and enterprise capabilities of the IBM public cloud.

The Indian rupee fell sharply on Tuesday, breaching the 73 mark against the US dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 73.17, compared with its close of 72.760 during the previous trading session.

A weak rupee boosts revenues of IT firms in rupee terms as the sector derives a lion's share of revenue from exports.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Larsen & Toubro rose 1.39% to Rs 1183.20 after the company said its power transmission & distribution business bagged 'significant' orders in India and overseas. In Bangladesh, the business has won a turnkey order for design, supply, installation and commissioning of power transmission infrastructure for the 800 MW Rupsha power plant. The company also received an order from Nepal to build 220kV substations. Lastly, in Saudi Arabia, the company bagged an order to establish 380kV and 230kV transmission line corridors. As per the L&T's classification, the valuation of the 'significant' order stands between Rs 1000 and 2500 crore.

Hero MotoCorp jumped 4% to Rs 2053. The auto maker reported 19.3% decline in total two-wheeler sales to 498242 units in February 2020 from 617215 units in February 2019. Hero MotoCorp moved ahead to manufacturing only BS-VI vehicles and stopped the production of all BS-IV two-wheelers in the month of February.

Steel Strips Wheels fell 1.57% to Rs 697. The company said its total wheel rim sales rose 1% to Rs 12.98 lakh in February 2020 as against Rs 12.83 lakh in February 2019. The company's gross turnover fell 7% to Rs 165.89 crore in February 2020 from Rs 177.40 crore in February 2019. Its net turnover slipped 5% to Rs 137.77 crore in February 2020 over Rs 144.38 crore in February 2019.

Exports segment reported highest ever volume for Steel Strips Wheels (SSWL) on the back of record sales to USA. During the period under review, exports segment surged 144% and tractor volumes rose by 13%. Passenger car segment volumes fell 4%, two & three wheelers segment fell 19% and commercial vehicles segment volumes fell by 40% during February 2020. The company's total wheel rim sales declined 3.49% in February 2020 as against Rs 13.45 lakh in January 2020.

Pfizer surged 4.28% to Rs 4441 after the company's US-based parent, Pfizer Inc, on Monday said it identified some antiviral compounds with potential as coronavirus treatments. Pfizer Inc's chief scientific officer Mikael Dolsten participated in a meeting with other pharmaceutical companies about various ways to develop vaccines and therapeutics for COVID-19 held at the White House.

Torrent Power rose 3.32% to Rs 319.40 after Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company has handed over Shil, Mumbra and Kalwa (SMK) divisions and its operations to the company on 1 March 2020. On 3 January 2020, Torrent Power had won franchisee for distribution of electricity in Shil, Mumbra & Kalwa (SMK) sub-divisions under Thane Urban Circle, Maharashtra.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News