MARKET WRAP: Sensex ends 986 pts higher; financials rally post RBI measures

All that happened in the markets today

The domestic stock market witnessed a sharp rally on Friday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das announced a slew of measures to support the economy in the wake of Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak. The central bank slashed reverse repo rate by 25 basis points to 3.75 per cent. It also announced special refinance facility of Rs 15,000 crore to SIDBI; Rs 25,000 crore to NABARD, and Rs 10,000 cr to HFCs to support liquidity.  READ MORE

Reacting to it, financial stocks made solid gains, thus aiding the benchmark indices settle over 3 per cent higher. The S&P BSE Sensex surged 986 points or 3.22 per cent to end at 31,588.72, with Axis Bank (up nearly 13.5 per cent) being the top gainer. ICICI Bank (up 10 per cent), IndusInd Bank (up 9 per cent), and Maruti (up 7 per cent) were next on the list. 

On the NSE, the Nifty gained 274 points or 3.05 per cent to end at 9,266.75. Volatility index, India VIX, continued to cool-off. It slipped 7.71 per cent to 42.54 levels.  

Among sectoral indices on the NSE, Nifty Bank jumped a whopping 1,343 points or around 7 per cent to 20,743 levels, with all the 12 constituents ending in the green. Nifty Auto advanced around 5.5 per cent to 5,688.60 levels.

On the other hand, Nifty FMCG slipped 1 per cent to 29,201 while Nifty Pharma slipped nearly half a per cent to 9,159 levels. 

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index gained over 2 per cent to 11,824 and the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended at 10,801, up around 2.5 per cent. 
 

Global markets

World stock markets made a super-charged sprint towards an 11 per cent weekly gain on Friday - their second best of all time - after President Donald Trump laid out plans to gradually reopen the coronavirus-hit US economy following similar moves elsewhere.

Additional reports that patients with severe COVID-19 symptoms had responded positively to a drug made by US company Gilead Sciences had helped Tokyo and Seoul both surge 3 per cent as Asia took a widely-expected slump in Chinese GDP data in its stride.

European markets also traded in the green. 

In oil market, oil prices fell, giving up early gains as China’s worst economic contraction on record outweighed news of US President Donald Trump’s plans to get the American economy moving again. Brent was down by 10 cents, or 0.4 per cent, at $27.72 a barrel while US crude CLc1 for May delivery tumbled by $1.54, or 7.8 per cent, to $18.33.

(With inputs from Reuters)

4:10 PM

MARKET COMMENT | Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

"Markets were buoyant following RBI measures to boost liquidity and reclassify NPA norms for commercial banks. The positive global markets also added to the buoyancy. Rate-sensitive stocks managed to outperform. Focus will continue to be on how far these measures will help in containing the economic fallout of the virus and also on the earnings guidance of companies."

3:51 PM

Sectoral gainers and losers on the NSE

3:45 PM

MARKET AT CLOSE | Top gainers and losers on the S&P BSE Sensex

3:41 PM

CLOSING BELL

The S&P BSE Sensex rallied 986 points or 3.22 per cent to end at 31,589 while NSE's Nifty soared 274 points or 3 per cent to settle at 9,267.

3:27 PM

MARKET CHECK

3:18 PM

EXPERT COMMENT | Gaurav Dua, Sr VP, Head Capital Market Strategy & Investments, Sharekhan

RBI announced further policy measures today that are well targeted to address concerns of financial companies like mid/small-sized NBFC, mortgage finance and micro finance companies. Along with host of other measures, the RBI would incentivise bank credit flow, launch targeted repo (for MFI, NBFC, HFCs) and given refinance facility of Rs 50,000 crore to NABARD, SIDBI and NHB. The measures would aid financials but are not significant enough to change the bias and result in material re-rating of NBFC and MFI stocks.

In terms of Indian equities, our base case prognosis is the benchmark indices could continue to consolidate in a broad range of 8500-9200 on Nifty for the next few weeks. The situation is still volatile and uncertain in terms of the extent of disruption in economy and businesses. Thus, it is advisable to stick to quality companies with proven track record, healthy balance sheet and stable growth outlook.

3:07 PM

Europe car sales dip 55% in March on virus lockdown, worse than 2008 crisis

European car sales tanked last month amid strict lockdown measures to contain the coronavirus that shut down dealerships for at least half of March and dried up consumer spending. The European carmaker's association, ACEA, said Friday that new car registrations ''recorded a dramatic drop'' of 55% to 567,308 units. READ MORE  

2:58 PM

MARKET VOICE :: Ambareesh Baliga on dividend payout rule

2:58 PM

NEWS ALERT | RBI to conduct first auction under TLTRO for Rs 25,000 cr on April 23

Click here for RBI's notification

2:56 PM

RESULT TOMORROW | HDFC Bank Q4 preview: Net profit may jump 30% YoY; biz growth guidance eyed

Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities pegs the lender’s profit at Rs 7,616.2 crore, a 29.4 per cent growth from Rs 5,885.1 crore reported in the March quarter of the previous fiscal (Q4FY19). Sequentially, the PAT is seen growing 3 per cent from Rs 7,416.5 crore.

 

Similarly, analysts at ICICI Securities expect the bank’s profit to rise 28.6 per cent YoY to Rs 7,568.2 crore on the back of robust traction in deposits, and healthy fee-based income. READ MORE

2:53 PM

Stocks that hit 52-week high on BSE today

COMPANY	PRICE(rs)	52 WK HIGH	CHG(%)
BIOCON	353.50	357.00	1.04
CIPLA	601.00	615.55	0.07
DIVI'S LAB.	2346.25	2449.05	-1.99
DR REDDY'S LABS	3923.40	3993.80	1.59
LAURUS LABS	405.20	470.65	1.49

2:48 PM

Contribution to the S&P BSE Sensex's gain today

2:43 PM

ICICI Bank jumps 6%, top gainer on Sensex

2:38 PM

Nifty Private Bank index top sectoral gainer, up over 4%

2:25 PM

MARKET VOICE :: Vijay Kedia on liquidity crisis