Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended with sharp losses on Monday. After a negative start, indices traded in deep red, amid rising Covid-19 cases in India. India reported 103,793 fresh Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the highest single-day spike of the year, pushing the overall tally to 12,587,920, according to Worldometer. The death toll from the deadly infection jumped to 165,132. The Maharashtra government has decided to impose complete lockdown on weekends and a night curfew in the state to control the spread of the novel coronavirus. The curbs will come into effect from Monday night. They were announced as Mumbai recorded over 11,000 Covid cases. The state recorded over 57,000 cases on Sunday - the highest so far. Malls and multiplexes will remain shut and all private offices, except those engaged in finance, insurance, banks, telecommunications, and essential services, will have to work from home. Attendance in government offices will be capped at 50 per cent.

Bears held a tight grip over the Dalal Street during the whole trading session. Traders got worried, after India's manufacturing sector activities lost further growth momentum and fell to a seven-month low in March as demand was constrained by the escalation of the COVID-19 pandemic. The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell from 57.5 in February to a seven-month low of 55.4 in March. In PMI parlance, a print above 50 means expansion while a score below 50 denotes contraction. Meanwhile, the Income Tax Department has issued refunds worth over Rs 2.62 lakh crore to more than 2.38 crore taxpayers in 2020-21. This includes Rs 87,749 crore personal income tax refunds to 2.34 crore taxpayers and Rs 1.74 lakh crore worth corporate tax refunds in 3.46 lakh cases.

In the second half of the session, markets managed to cut some of their losses but remained lower. Domestic sentiments remained down-beat, as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed that the country's foreign exchange reserves declined by $2.986 billion to reach $579.285 billion in the week ended March 26. In the previous week ended March 19, the forex kitty had increased by $233 million to $582.271 billion. It had touched a record high of $590.185 billion in the week ended January 29, 2021. The fall in reserves was on account of a decrease in foreign currency assets (FCA), a major component of the overall reserves. The street also got cautious with ratings agency Ind-Ra stating that further surge in global commodity prices will have serious implications for India's economy which is still struggling to come out of the Covid-19 impact.

On the global front, European markets were closed due to Easter Monday. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday, after Japan's services activity contracted at a slower than initially estimated pace in March. The final data from IHS Markit showed that the au Jibun Bank Japan Services Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 48.3 in March from 46.3 in February. This was well above the flash score of 46.5 but below the neutral 50.0 mark, suggesting contraction in the sector. The latest reading was the highest since January 2020, as some companies lifted output at the end of the first quarter.

The BSE Sensex ended at 49159.32, down by 870.51 points or 1.74% after trading in a range of 48580.80 and 50028.67. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.13%, while Small cap index was down by 1.08%.(Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.96%, TECK up by 1.67%, Metal up by 0.96%, Telecom up by 0.50% and Healthcare up by 0.20%, while Realty down by 3.62%, Bankex down by 3.47%, Auto down by 2.63%, PSU down by 2.34% and Consumer Disc down by 2.30% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Tech. up by 3.08%, TCS up by 2.32%, Infosys up by 1.79%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.40% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.55%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 5.81%, Indusind Bank down by 5.64%, SBI down by 4.56%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 4.17% and Axis Bank down by 3.93% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, in a relief to the MSME sector, the government has amended the insolvency law to provide for a pre-packaged resolution process for micro, small and medium enterprises. The latest move comes less than two weeks after the suspension of certain IBC provisions ended. The suspension -- wherein fresh insolvency proceedings were not allowed for a year starting from March 25, 2020 -- was implemented amid the coronavirus pandemic disrupting economic activities.

As per the ordinance, it is considered necessary to urgently address the specific requirements of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) relating to the resolution of their insolvency, due to the unique nature of their businesses and simpler corporate structures.

Besides, according to the ordinance, it is considered expedient to provide an efficient alternative insolvency resolution process MSMEs to ensure a quicker, cost-effective and value maximising outcomes for all stakeholders, in a manner which is least disruptive to the continuity of their businesses and which preserves jobs.

The CNX Nifty ended at 14637.80, down by 229.55 points or 1.54% after trading in a range of 14459.50 and 14849.85. There were 13 stocks advancing against 37 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Tech. up by 3.08%, TCS up by 2.33%, Britannia up by 2.26%, Wipro up by 2.17% and Infosys up by 1.78%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 5.87%, Indusind Bank down by 5.63%, SBI down by 4.61%, Eicher Motors down by 4.33% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 4.10% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday, though some of the markets were closed for Easter Monday holiday. Stock markets in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong were closed today. Sentiments soared with the unexpectedly strong job and manufacturing data from US, pointing for a faster global economic recovery. Rise in bond yields also triggered positive economic outlook. Crude oil rates fell after OPEC+ agreed last week to gradually ease some of its production cuts between May and July. Banking and financial sectors stocks were the major gainers in the session. Japan's Nikkei finished higher for the third session in a row, with a weaker yen lifting more exports and on optimism over economic recovery with the US president Joe Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure and economic recovery plans. However some of the gains were capped as Japan's service activity dipped for the month of March.