Stock Market Live: Sensex, Nifty plunge over 2% as record new COVID-19 cases stoke growth concerns

Customers for 100-125cc still not returning: Bajaj Auto

Bajaj Auto is clocking record exports, but domestic demand is not as strong, the company’s Executive Director Rakesh Sharma told CNBC-TV18. The company hopes to cross-sales 4 lakh units overall in April and May, Sharma said. He does not expect a major supply chain disruption in the ongoing second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company is closely watching domestic demand, which has been muted in the last couple of months. He said that customers for the company’s mass-market 100-125 cc are yet to return in a big way. Lower access to funding has been one of the reasons for the subdued performance of entry-level segment, Sharma said. Compared to entry-level, the premium segment (125 cc plus bikes) has seen only a 4 percent decline, Sharma said. Read more.

SAIL shares rally over 5% to hit 52-week high as it clocks best quarterly sales during March quarter

Shares of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) surged over 5 percent to hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 88.65 apiece on the BSE after the company clocked its best-ever quarterly sales during the quarter ended March 2021. The company’s sales were at 4.27 million tonnes (MT) during Q4FY21, up 14 percent over the year-ago period. The domestic steel giant’s crude steel production too increased by 6 percent during the quarter to 4.55 MT. The company had clocked 3.74 MT sales and 4.31 MT crude steel output during the January-March quarter of fiscal 2019-20.

Buzzing | Shares of PVR and Inox Leisure plunged over 6-8 percent on Monday after the Maharashtra government announced to shut cinema theatres amid rising COVID-19 cases in the state. In a new set of regulations released Sunday evening, the state government imposed a number of restrictions including a total lockdown during weekends.

Cadila Healthcare | Zydus Cadila announced that its Phase III clinical trials with Pegylated Interferon Alpha 2b, PegiHepTM has shown promising results in treating COVID-19. With these positive results, the company has applied for an approval for additional indication with the DCGI for the use of PegIFN in the treatment of COVID 19, the company said.

Just In | India Manufacturing PMI for March comes in at a 7-month low of 55.4 versus 57.5 in February.

Credit Suisse says local steel prices unlikely to fall sharply; JP Morgan bullish on SAIL

Domestic steel prices are unlikely to fall sharply in the short term, according to a research note by Credit Suisse. The note said that Indian domestic steel prices were now at an 11-17 percent discount to imports from China and other countries with which India has signed a Free Trade Agreement. Credit Suisse said China’s decision to cut export rebates was also a positive for steel prices in India. It said that a favourable supply-demand balance and companies’ decision to pass on higher costs to consumers should support steel prices globally. Credit Suisse’s favorite bets are Tata Steel and Jindal Steel and Power Ltd. Read more.

Manish Hathiramani, Proprietary Index Trader and Technical Analyst, Deen Dayal Investments

We are still trading in a restricted range which is between 14,650 and 14,900. Unless we are able to get past 14950, the Index won’t propel further. If we manage to do that, the markets could move towards 15,300. On the flip side, if we break 14,500-14,600 on a closing basis, the Nifty can go down further to retest the previous lows of 14,200.

Federal Bank Q4FY21 Update |  The bank reported best deposit growth in eight quarters and best advances growth in nine quarters. Deposits at Rs 172655 crore, up 13.4 percent, YoY and 6.8 percent, QoQ. Advances at Rs 134876 crore, rose 8.6 percent, YoY and 5.2 percent, QoQ. CASA at Rs 58,381 crore rose 25.7 percent, YoY and 4.7 percent, QoQ. CASA ratio was at 33.81 percent versus 30.5 percent YoY and versus 34.5 percent, QoQ. Customer deposits at Rs 163620 crore, up 12.3 percent, YoY and 4.2 percent QoQ.

Yes Bank Q4FY21 Update | The bank’s advances rose 0.8 percent, YoY and 1.8 percent QoQ. Deposits increased 54.7 percent, YoY and 11.4 percent, QoQ. CASA was up 51.8 percent, YoY and 12.2 percent QoQ.

Adani Ports & SEZ | The company has acquired an additional 25 percent stake in Krishnapatnam Port for Rs 2,800 crore. With this acquisition, the company now holds a 100 percent stake in the Krishnapatnam Port.

HDFC Bank | The bank’s advances aggregated to approximately Rs 11,320 billion as of March 31, 2021, a growth of around 13.9 percent over Rs 9,937 billion as of March 31, 2020 and a growth of around 4.6 percent over Rs 10,823 billion as of December 31, 2020. Deposits aggregated to approximately Rs 13,350 billion as of March 31, 2021, a growth of around 16.3 percent over Rs 11,475 billion as of March 31, 2020 and a growth of around 5.0 percent over Rs 12,711 billion as of December 31, 2020.

MFs turn net buyers; invest Rs 2,476 crore in equities in March

Mutual funds invested Rs 2,476 crore in equities in March, making it the first such infusion in 10 months, as consolidation in the market provided investment opportunities to fund managers. According to Sebi data, MFs put in a net amount of Rs 2,476.5 crore in equities in March. Before that, MFs withdrew Rs 16,306 crore from equities in February, Rs 13,032 crore in January, Rs 26,428 crore in December, Rs 30,760 crore in November, Rs 14,492 crore in October, Rs 4,134 crore in September, Rs 9,213 crore in August, Rs 9,195 crore in July and Rs 612 crore in June.

Market Opens | The Indian equity market opened lower on Monday dragged by selling in banks, FMCG, auto and financial stocks. At 09:16 am, the Sensex fell 305.03 points or 0.61 percent at 49,724.80, and the Nifty was down 82 points or 0.55 percent at 14,785.40. Broader markets, smallcap and midcap indices also fell over half a percent each.

Eight of top-10 most valued companies add cumulatively over Rs 1.2 lakh cr in m-cap | Eight of the top-10 most valued companies together added Rs 1,28,503.47 crore in market valuation last week, with IT majors Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys leading from the front. The valuation of TCS jumped Rs 36,158.22 crore to reach Rs 11,71,082.67 crore, becoming the biggest gainer among the top-10 most valued companies. The m-cap of HDFC Bank declined by Rs 3,142.29 crore to Rs 8,19,474.22 crore and that of HDFC dipped by Rs 171.38 crore to Rs 4,56,569.82 crore.

Forex reserves fall by USD 2.986 bln to USD 579.285 bln | The country’s foreign exchange reserves declined by USD 2.986 billion to reach USD 579.285 billion in the week ended March 26, RBI data showed. The fall in reserves was on account of a decrease in foreign currency assets (FCA), a major component of the overall reserves. FCA declined by USD 3.226 billion to USD 537.953 billion. In the previous week ended March 19, the forex kitty had increased by USD 233 million to USD 582.271 billion.

FPIs invest Rs 17,304 crore in March | Continuing the buying spree for the third consecutive month, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have invested Rs 17,304 crore in Indian markets so far in March. According to the depositories data, FPIs invested Rs 10,482 crore into equities and Rs 6,822 crore in the debt segment during March 1-31. The total net investment stood at Rs 17,304 crore during the period under review.

US job growth accelerates in March

US employers hired more workers than expected in March, spurred by increased vaccinations and more pandemic relief money from the government, cementing expectations that an economic boom was underway. Nonfarm payrolls surged by 916,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said on Friday. That was the biggest gain since last August. Data for February was revised higher to show 468,000 jobs created instead of the previously reported 379,000.

Dollar bides time before services data after labour market rebound

The dollar was largely steady on Monday as investors soaked up last week’s strong US employment report and looked ahead to data on the US services sector for affirmation of a solid economic rebound from the coronavirus shock. The greenback posted its best quarter against major currencies in almost three years in January-March thanks to an improving US economy and rising Treasury yields.

Maharashtra announces strict COVID-19 guidelines

The Maharashtra government imposed new curbs including total lockdown at weekends and night curfew on weekdays amid rising COVID-19 cases in the state. The new set of strict guidelines which will be called ‘Break The Chain’ instead of ‘Mission Begin Again’ will come into effect from 8 pm on April 5 and are likely to be in place till April 30. Read more.

Oil prices dip after OPEC+ agree to ease output cuts

Oil prices edged down in early Asian trade on Monday after OPEC+ agreed last week to gradually ease some of its production cuts between May and July. Brent crude futures for June fell 16 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $64.70 a barrel while US West Texas Intermediate crude for May was at $61.32 a barrel, down 13 cents, or 0.2 percent.