Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended with notable gains on Tuesday’s trading session. After a positive start, key indices remained higher for the most part of the session. Traders got encouragement as FICCI's latest quarterly survey on manufacturing assessed recovery of the sector for Q-3 (October-December 2020-21) and pointed that it is expected to regain the lost momentum in the Q-4. In late morning deals, markets cut gains, with a private report that the pandemic-induced shocks to the economy which have already shaved off 15.7 per cent of the GDP from the previous year, will delay the ambitious target of becoming the third largest economy by three years to 2031-32 now.

However, markets were volatile during the day, amid a private report stating that the 'second wave' of the pandemic is delaying business normalization in the country, as coronavirus infections rise in Maharashtra and other states. The Nomura India Business Resumption Index dipped to 95.1 for the week to March 21 from 95.4 in the previous week as a result of the rising infections. Traders took a note of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) statement that the government has decided to cancel its Rs 20,000 crore borrowing scheduled for March 26, 2021 on review of cash balance position. This means, the government would be borrowing Rs 20,000 crore less than its target of Rs 12.8 lakh crore announced in the Budget on February 1 for the current fiscal.

Besides, India reported 40,611 the daily number of Covid-19 cases. The overall tally stands at 11,686,330, according to Worldometer. The death toll from the infection is at 160,200. Maharashtra recorded 24,645 new cases. Meanwhile, Delhi saw as many as 888 fresh coronavirus cases on Monday. But, in the last hours of the trade, indices added gains, as overall capacity utilization in manufacturing has witnessed a rise to 74 per cent as compared to 65 per cent in previous quarter. The future investment outlook, however, looks slightly better as 30 per cent respondents reported plans for capacity additions for the next six months as compared to 18 per cent in the previous quarter.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower as a new wave of coronavirus infection and fresh lockdown in Germany raised fears of a slow economic recovery from the pandemic shock. Asian markets ended mostly lower on Tuesday, after Japan's leading index rose less than initially estimated in January. The final data from the Cabinet Office showed that the leading index, which measures the future economic activity, rose to 98.5 in January, the highest since October 2018, from 97.7 in the previous month. However, the score was revised down from 99.1. The coincident index came in at revised 90.3 versus 87.4 a month ago. The flash reading was 91.7.

The BSE Sensex ended at 50051.44, up by 280.15 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 49661.92 and 50264.65. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.95%, while Small cap index up by 0.75%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.51%, Industrials up by 1.16%, Energy up by 1.06%, Realty up by 1.05% and Power up by 0.86%, while Metal down by 0.74%, FMCG down by 0.45%, Oil & Gas down by 0.45%, Telecom down by 0.06% and PSU down by 0.04% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 3.06%, Indusind Bank up by 2.28%, ICICI Bank up by 2.25%, HDFC Bank up by 2.11% and Titan Co up by 2.06%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.28%, Power Grid down by 1.97%, ITC down by 1.70%, NTPC down by 1.14% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.05% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, in a big relief to infrastructure sector, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has introduced the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) Bill 2021 in the Lok Sabha to pave the way for setting up of a government-owned development finance institution to help fund about 7,000 infra projects under the National Infrastructure Pipeline.

The proposed legislation will give effect to the Budget announcement made by the finance minister on February 1. The government has proposed Rs 20,000 crore to capitalise the institution. The Union Cabinet had last week approved the Budget proposal of setting up a development finance institution (DFI), which will have tax benefits to enable fund raising from investors.

The National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development will be set up with a corpus of Rs 20,000 crore and the government will give an initial grant of Rs 5,000 crore. The government expects the DFI to leverage this fund to raise up to Rs 3 lakh crore in the next few years.

The CNX Nifty ended at 14814.75, up by 78.35 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 14707.00 and 14878.60. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Shree Cement up by 5.04%, Ultratech Cement up by 3.14%, Divis Lab up by 2.64%, Titan Co up by 2.40% and Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.31%. On the flip side, Indian Oil Corp. down by 2.42%, Hindalco down by 2.37%, ONGC down by 2.24%, Power Grid down by 2.04% and GAIL India down by 1.75% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 36.75 points or 0.55% to 6,689.35, France’s CAC decreased 35.85 points or 0.6% to 5,932.63 and Germany’s DAX was down by 92.36 points or 0.63% to 14,564.85.

Asian markets ended mostly lower on Tuesday, as the investors are in cautious outlook in midst of tensions between western nations  and China. Western nations had imposed sanctions on Chinese officials for human rights abuses in Xinjiang, while Beijing hit back immediately with broad punitive measures against the EU. Asian share got pressured with the steep declines in Chinese  stocks and high volatility in US bond yields