MARKETS: Sensex pares gains, ends just 62 pts higher; YES Bank surges 36%

All that happened in markets today

Equity markets continued to remain under pressure on Wednesday; however, buying in index heavyweights such as Reliance Industries (RIL), ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and HUL provided some cushion. 

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 35,697, up 62 points while NSE's Nifty ended just 7 points higher at 10,458 levels. On the Sensex pack, Hero MotoCorp ended as the top gainer (up 4 per cent) while Tata Steel emerged as the biggest loser (down over 7 per cent). Of 30 stocks, 13 ended in the green and rest 17 in the red. 

Among individual stocks, YES Bank ended over 35.5 per cent higher at Rs 28.8 apiece on the BSE. During the day it surged over 39 per cent. The stock has surged a mammoth 424 per cent from Friday’s low of Rs 5.65, after the government-owned State Bank of India (SBI) said it will pick a 49 per cent stake in the troubled private lender as part of a revival scheme framed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). READ MORE

Reliance Industries (RIL) surged around 6 per cent to Rs 1,178.40 apiece on the BSE after global brokerage firm Macquarie upgraded the stock to 'Neutral'. The stock eventually ended at Rs 1,153 apiece, up 3.6 per cent. READ MORE

Market breadth remained in favour of sellers as out of 2,643 companies traded on the BSE, 1,427 declined and 1,050 advanced while 166 remained unchanged. As many as 560 securities hit 52-week low today and 21 stocks hit their 52-week high on the BSE. 

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index ended at 13,433, down 0.9 per cent while the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended over 0.36 per cent lower at 12,725 levels. 

Among sectoral indices on the NSE, PSU banks, realty, metal and auto stocks witnessed declines while media stocks rallied. Nifty Media advanced over 1.7 per cent to 1,450 levels. On the other hand, Nifty PSU Bank index slipped around 4 per cent to 1,623 levels. 

Global Markets

Asian shares and Wall Street futures fell on Wednesday, as growing scepticism about Washington’s stimulus package to fight the coronavirus outbreak knocked the steam out of an earlier rally. Gains faded away in Asia, with US stock futures falling 3 per cent and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 1.3 per cent. Australian shares were down 3.6 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei stock index slid 2.27 per cent.

In Europe, shares rose for the first time in five sessions, as Britain became the latest country to cut interest rates in a bid to contain the economic damage from the coronavirus epidemic.

In commodities, oil prices fell, giving up earlier gains, after Saudi Aramco said it had been directed by the energy ministry to raise its production capacity by a million barrels per day. 

(With inputs from Reuters)

4:16 PM

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

Global impact of coronavirus which is still spreading at high rate in countries other than China and collapse of oil prices are having a catastrophic effect. Rate cuts and stimulus measures are not working at the time being. Even though risk concerns continue to remain elevated, inflow into domestic equity mutual fund surged to highest level in 11 months indicating investor confidence on a long-term perspective. Going ahead rate sensitive stocks are likely to remain focused as consensus estimate show CPI inflation for the month of February eased to 6.80 per cent. But market expects RBI to cut rate in the next policy

3:45 PM

SECTOR WATCH | Gainers and losers on the NSE

3:40 PM

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

3:35 PM

CLOSING BELL

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 35,697, up 62 points or 0.18 per cent while NSE's Nifty ended at 10,458, up 7 points or 0.06 per cent. 

3:25 PM

BUZZING STOCK | YES Bank jumps over 36%

3:14 PM

MARKET CHECK

3:05 PM

Financial firms worldwide ramp up contingency plans as coronavirus hits

The steps including telling staff who had been exposed to someone with the virus to self-quarantine for 14 days, splitting operations so that some staff work from home or back-up locations and deep cleaning offices.

 

Barclays told staff on Tuesday that a trading floor employee in its Midtown Manhattan office tested positive for the virus and told employees who worked near or met with the individual to self-quarantine, according to a memo seen by Reuters. READ MORE

2:53 PM

PVR, Jubilant FoodWorks: Consumer-centric stocks to feel COVID-19 heat

The spread of Coronavirus (Covid-19) in India is likely to impact businesses of consumer-centric companies such as multiplex, entertainment, and restaurant chains in the near-term as people refrain from assembling in public places as a precautionary step. Moreover, preventive measures by some state governments may also add to their woes. READ MORE

2:49 PM

Most active stocks by volume

COMPANY	PRICE(rs)	CHG(%)
VODAFONE IDEA	4.37	9.25
YES BANK	27.25	28.24
RELIANCE POWER	1.45	-3.97
RELIANCE INDS.	1162.30	4.42
TATA MOTORS	100.00	-5.48

2:46 PM

Heatmap: S&P BSE Sensex

2:29 PM

Index Contributors at this hour

2:20 PM

Sharp profit downgrades for Tata Motors on weak Jaguar Land Rover outlook

Tata Motors shed 7.4 per cent on Monday in a weak market on worries of sluggish Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) sales in China and volume decline in the commercial vehicles portfolio in India. JLR reported an 85 per cent year-on-year fall in China retail sales in February because of the impact of the coronavirus epidemic. READ MORE

2:10 PM

Rupee check

2:04 PM

Tata Steel extends losses, slips 7%

2:03 PM

Saudi Aramco to raise oil output by 1 mn bpd as price war escalates

Energy giant Saudi Aramco said Wednesday it plans to raise its production capacity by one million barrels per day to 13 million bpd as a price war with Russia escalates.

 

"Saudi Aramco announces that it received a directive from the ministry of energy to increase its maximum sustainable capacity from 12 million bpd to 13 bpd," the company said in a statement to the Saudi Stock Exchange.