Key equity barometers reversed intraday losses and ended with decent gains on Thursday. Trading was volatile as rising Covid-19 cases continue to spook investors. The Nifty managed to close near the 14,600 mark. Metal and pharma shares advanced while PSU banks and auto shares tumbled. As per the provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, gained 259.62 points or 0.53% to 48,803.49. The Nifty 50 index added 76.65 points or 0.53% to close at 14,581.45.
TCS (up 3.96%), ICICI Bank (up 2.7%) and HDFC Bank (up 2.42%) pushed the benchmarks higher.
The broader market ended near the flat line. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.1% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.03%.
The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1255 shares rose and 1638 shares fell. A total of 164 shares were unchanged.
COVID-19 Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 138,056,297 with 2,971,539 deaths.
India reported 14,71,877 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 173,123 deaths while 124,29,564 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
India on Wednesday reported 2,00,739 new COVID-19 cases and 1,038 deaths in last 24 hours, according to data from the Union Health Ministry.
The total COVID19 vaccinations have crossed the 11.43 crore mark with more than 31.39 lakh vaccine doses were administered till 8 pm yesterday. A total of 69,974 COVID Vaccination Centres (CVCs) were operational, marking a rise of an average of 24,000 operational Vaccination Centres ( 45,000 CVCs on an average are functional on any given day). Workplace vaccinations have also enabled a high turnout of beneficiaries.
Economy:
India's wholesale price-based inflation shot up to over 8-year high of 7.39% in March on rising crude oil and metal prices. This is the third straight month of up-tick seen in the wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation. The WPI inflation was 4.17% in February and 0.42% in March 2020.
The prices of crude oil, petroleum products and basic metal substantially increased in March 2021 compared with the corresponding month of last year. Also, due to nationwide lockdown, the WPI index for the month of March 2020 (120.4) was computed with relatively low response rate.
Result Today:
IT major Wipro (up 3.52%) will announce its fourth quarter result today.
Earnings Impact:
Infosys dropped 2.33%. On a consolidated basis, Infosys reported 2.3% decline in net profit to Rs 5,076 crore on 1.5% increase in revenues to Rs 26,311 crore in Q4 March 2021 over Q3 December 2020. The company's consolidated net profit rose 17.5% and revenues rose 13.1% in Q4 March 2021 over Q4 March 2020. In its outlook for FY22, Infosys has guided for 12% to 14% sales growth in constant currency terms in 2021-22 and an operating margin band of 22% to 24%.
Tata Metaliks fell 3.34% after the company posted a 2.7% decline in net profit to Rs 74.99 crore in Q4 March 2021 from Rs 77 crore posted in Q4 March 2020. Net sales rose 26.7% to Rs 660.87 crore in Q4 March 2021 from Rs 521.60 crore registered in Q4 March 2020. Profit before tax increased by 28.5% year on year to Rs 123.73 crore in Q4 March 2021 over Q4 March 2020.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Tata Motors fell 0.02%. The Tata Motors Group global wholesales in Q4 FY21, including Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), stood at 3,30,125 units, higher by 43%, compared with Q4 FY20. Global wholesales of Tata Motors' commercial vehicles and Tata Daewoo range in Q4 FY21 were at 1,09,428, higher by 55% over Q4 FY20. Global wholesales of all passenger vehicles in Q4 FY21 stood at 2,20,697 as against Q4 FY20, registering a growth of 39% year-on-year (Y-o-Y).
L&T rose 0.16%. The heavy engineering arm of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) won significant contracts for its various business segments in Q4 of FY21. According to L&T's classification, the value of the said orders lie between Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 2,500 crore.
NMDC added 2.03%. The PSU miner hiked prices of iron ore with effect from Wednesday, 14 April 2021. The prices of lump ore rose 18.80% to Rs 6,950 per ton and the prices of iron ore fines jumped 10.96% to Rs 5,060 per ton. The prices are effective as on 14 April 2021.
UPL rose 0.69%. The Queensland Supreme Court has ruled in favour of Advanta Seeds, a subsidiary of UPL. The company, in a regulatory filing, said that: We are pleased that the Supreme Court of Queensland in Australia has dismissed a class action litigation against Advanta Seeds Pty Ltd, Company's subsidiary in Australia. This class action, funded by a UK based litigation funder, alleged that seeds sold by Advanta in 2010/2011 to certain growers in Queensland and News South Wales region of Australia, were contaminated.
Larsen & Toubro Infotech (L&T Infotech) dropped 1.43%. The board approved the appointment of Anil Rander as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Key Managerial Personnel (KMP) of the company.
Global Markets:
European shares were trading higher while Asian market closed on a mixed note on Thursday. In the US, Wall Street indexes closed mixed on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 falling despite another record intraday high for the latter and big banks' stellar results on the first day of earnings season.
Shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Wells Fargo & Co rose on bumper first-quarter profits. Goldman capitalized on record levels of global deal making activity, and Wells reduced bad loan provisions and got a grip on costs tied to its sales practices scandal.
The Federal Reserve will continue to support the recovery, and will start tapering asset purchases well before policy makers consider raising interest rates, Chairman Jerome Powell told the Economic Club of Washington Wednesday.
In coronavirus developments, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention panel decided Wednesday to postpone a decision on Johnson and Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine following the development of a rare but potentially life-threatening blood-clotting disorder in six women. On Tuesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration asked states to temporarily halt using J&J's COVID-19 vaccine out of an abundance of caution.
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