Benchmarks hit record high; Nifty scales 14,900

Equity indices surged to fresh record high levels in mid afternoon trade. Barring the Nifty IT index, all other sectoral indices on the NSE were trading in the green. At 14:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, surged 352.78 points or 0.7% at 50,608.59. The Nifty 50 index gained 105 points or 0.71% at 14,894.50.

The Sensex hit a record high of 50,637.45 while the Nifty scaled a fresh all time high of 14,907.95.

In broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.23% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.18%.

Buyers outnumbered sellers. On the BSE, 1,767 shares rose and 1,145 shares fell. A total of 166 shares were unchanged.

 

The Union Budget 2021 unveiled on 1 February 2021 supported all the essential aspects of growth by an increase in government spending without an increase in indirect taxes. The Budget offered huge stimulus to infrastructure, capex, healthcare and boosted the credit flow by taking out the toxic assets of the banking system. Increased FDI limit in insurance improved the overall outlook of the sector.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 10,43,89,724 with 22,68,691 deaths. India reported 1,55,025 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,54,703 deaths while 1,04,80,455 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index declined 0.26% to 25,614.10, snapping its three day winning streak. The index rallied nearly 4% in three days.

Tech Mahindra (down 1.49%), Wipro (down 0.91%), Info Edge (down 0.71%) and Infosys (down 0.25%) were top losers.

Earnings Impact:

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation rose 1.15%. The PSU company's net profit surged 215.13% Rs 2,354.64 crore in Q3 FY21 as against net profit of Rs 747.20 crore in Q3 FY20. Net sales during the quarter declined by 3% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 68,359.43 crore. HPCL posted a pre-tax profit of Rs 3,157.87 crore in Q3 December 2020 as against Rs 1,150.84 crore in Q3 December 2019. Other Income for the period April-December 2020 period includes Rs 869.88 crore (April-December 2019: Rs 101.38 crore) towards gain on account of foreign currency transactions and translations. Average Gross Refining Margin (GRM) during the nine months ended 31 December 2020 was $2.35 per barrel (BBL) as against $1.85 per BBL during the corresponding period of previous year.

IPCA Laboratories declined 2.72%. The company reported 35% jump in net profit to Rs 267.56 crore on a 16% rise in net total income to Rs 1425.21 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. EBITDA improved by 30% to Rs 377.32 crore in Q3 December 2020 as against Rs 290.03 crore in Q3 December 2019. The company recorded a forex gain of Rs 4.99 crore during the quarter as against gain of Rs 1.76 crore in the same period last year. Tax expense increased 54% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 56.73 crore.

Numbers to Track:

In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee appreciated to 72.9 compared with its previous closing of 72.96.

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 6.062% from its previous closing of 6.084%.

MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2021 settlement fell 0.93% to Rs 47,307.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, rose 0.24% to 91.325.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for April 2021 settlement added 36 cents to $58.82 a barrel. The contract surged 1.74% to settle at $58.46 in the previous trading session.

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