Nifty below 8,300; PSU banks rebound

Key barometers were trading with substantial losses in early afternoon trade. At 12:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 691.14 points or 2.39% at 28,178.37. The Nifty 50 index was down 219.4 points or 2.59% at 8,249.40.

Concerns over the coronavirus epidemic overshadowed the steps taken by global central banks for reviving the economy. The US Federal Reserve, The Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank have announced coordinated actions to enhance liquidity provision in financial markets to tackle disruption caused by coronavirus outbreak.

The broader market slumped. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 3.13% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 4.41%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 441 shares rose and 1742 shares fell. A total of 133 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 9 stocks advanced while 41 stocks declined.

Coronavirus Crisis:

Coronavirus has infected more than 2,00,000 people and killed more than 8000 across the world. Total cases in India have risen to 169. Three persons have lost their lives in India due to the virus. As per the latest update, two women tested positive for coronavirus in Mumbai metropolitan region on Thursday, taking the number of such cases in Maharashtra to 47.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation on 19 March 2020 at 8 PM, during which he will talk about issues relating to COVID-19 and the efforts to combat it.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, jumped 13.72% to 72.73. The Nifty February 2020 futures were trading at 8,113.20, a discount of 42.55 points compared with the spot at 8,155.75.

On the options front, the Nifty option chain for 26 March 2020 expiry showed maximum call open interest (OI) of 22.28 lakh contracts at the 12,000 strike price. Maximum put OI of 17.73 lakh contracts was seen at 8,500 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty PSU Bank index was up 1.2% at 1,498.30, snapping its three days losing streak.

Canara Bank (up 7.46%), Punjab National Bank (up 2.59%), Bank of Baroda (up 2.38%), Punjab & Sindh Bank (up 2.28%), Indian Bank (up 2.15%), Union Bank (up 1.18%) and Bank of India (up 1.11%) were top gainers in Nifty PSU Bank index.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories announced the launch of Naloxone Hydrochloride Injection USP, single-dose prefilled syringe, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) in US Market. The injection is a therapeutic equivalent generic version of Narcan (naloxone hydrochloride) Injection USP which had U.S. sales of approximately $31 million MAT for twelve months ending in January 2020 according to IQVIA Health. Shares of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories were trading 3.09% lower at Rs 2585.30.

Karur Vyasa Bank rose 1.81% to Rs 28.05 after the bank on Wednesday (18 March 2020) announced its entry into precious metals business.

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