Share Markets Live: Sensex, Nifty Decline After Selloff In Banks; Tata Steel Leads Metals Higher

The Indian rupee advances to its strongest level in more than three weeks along with other Asian currencies after the U.S. Federal Reserve maintained its growth-supportive stance.

• USD/INR fell 0.4% to 74.0825 after declining to 74.0475, the lowest since April 7
• Global funds buy net Rs 766 crore of India stocks Wednesday: NSE
• They sold Rs 218 crore of sovereign bonds under limits available to foreign investors, and withdrew Rs 25 crore of corporate debt
• State-run banks sold Rs 1,220 crore of sovereign bonds on April 28: CCIL data. Foreign banks sold Rs 1,630 crore of bonds

Shares of the Mukesh Ambani flagship company rose 2.4%, before paring some of the gains. The stock has jumped over 6% so far this week, set for its biggest weekly advance since mid-September.

The nation’s most valuable company by market capitalisation, which is due to report January-March earnings on Friday, is expected to jump by more than two times year-on-year to Rs 13,704 crore in the quarter ended March, according to the consensus of analysts’ estimates tracked by Bloomberg.

A rebound in the company’s retail arm is also expected to cushion the parent’s financials.

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The NSE Nifty Bank index dropped as much as 0.8% after rising 1.67% in opening trade as investors booked profit after a four-day rally.

Indian steelmakers rallied amid rising domestic prices and a decision by China to scrap tariffs on certain steel products and raw materials.

“China’s decision to cut import tariffs on steel to zero is a strong signal that the country is ready to import steel,” JPMorgan Analyst Pinakin Parekh wrote in a note. The world largest steel producer wants to curb iron ore consumption amid skyrocketing prices that have hurt domestic businesses while benefiting foreign suppliers such as Australia.

J.P.Morgan on Indian Steelmakers

• Sharp surge in trade prices, export realisations and import prices mean companies could increase HRC prices by Rs 6000-7000 per tonne in May-June.
• While we estimate that steel production at larger mills has not been impacted much, similar to last year's lockdown there has been a material impact on the smaller IF/EAF based mills
• We continue to see large consensus earnings upgrades, and for Tata Steel and SAIL, larger than forecast net debt reduction.

India equity benchmarks rose, in line with most peers in Asia, as plans for another round of stimulus in the U.S. and the Fed’s pledge to keep interest rates lower, raised the prospect of more inflows into emerging markets.

The S&P BSE Sensex climbed 1.3% to 50,375 while the NSE Nifty gained 1.2% to 15,044. Both the indices have gained 1% for all four sessions this week. All 19 sector sub-indices compiled by BSE Ltd. climbed, led by a gauge of metal companies. HDFC Bank Ltd. and Reliance Industries Ltd. were the biggest boosts to Sensex.

Sentiment toward local companies also improved as the nation’s biggest conglomerate to global giants stepped in to help ease India’s coronavirus crisis.

The market breadth was firmly tilted in favour of the bulls. About 1,592 stocks advanced, 563 declined while 105 remained unchanged on the BSE Ltd.