Investors bet on FMCG, pharma amid Covid-led restrictions; Sensex up 42 pts

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex had risen over 400 points while the broader Nifty50 index had surged 140 points in the early deals after a weak trading session on Monday. However, the indices pared gained and ended mildly higher soon after the Delhi government imposed night curfew in the city till April 30 with immediate effect in the wake of rising coronavirus cases. The city joins the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Rajasthan to impose restrictions.

Individually, the benchmark Sensex index settled at 49,201 levels, up 42 points, or 0.09 per cent, and the Nifty closed at 14,683 levels, up 46 points or 0.3 per cent. In the intra-day deals, the indices had hit a low of 48,936 and 14,574, respectively.

Up to 2 per cent losses in heavyweight like Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Power Grid, SBI, UltraTech Cement, Maruti Suzuki, and IndusInd Bank put a lid on gains even as stocks such as Asian Paints, HDFC, HUL, TCS, Sun Pharma, Infosys, and Bharti Airtel tried to support the markets.

The broader markets, however, braved the volatility and settled higher. The S&P BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices added 1 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively by close.

Sectoral trends depicted that the market mood was defensive as the Nifty Pharma (up 2 per cent), FMCG (1 per cent), and Metal (1.5 per cent) indices remained top gainers on the NSE today while the Nifty IT index was up 0.25 per cent. The Nifty Bank and Private Bank indices, meanwhile, skidded around 0.4 per cent each ahead of the RBI monetary policy committee's outcome due tomorrow.

Global markets

World stocks hit record highs on Tuesday, supported by strong economic data from China and the United States, while currency and bond markets paused for breath after a month of rapid gains in the dollar and Treasury yields.

MSCI All Country World Index hit an all-time high as European stocks played catch-up with gains. The pan-European STOXX 600 index hit a record high, up 0.8 per cent while the German DAX rose 1.1 per cent, France's CAC 40 was up 0.6 per cent, and the UK's FTSE 100 jumped 1.2%.

Profit-taking pushed Japan’s Nikkei down 1 per cent and dragged on the Shanghai Composite.

(With inputs from Reuters)