At 10:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 233.81 points or 0.47% at 49,742.51. The Nifty 50 index added 73.15 points or 0.5% at 14,763.25.
In broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.83% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 1.54%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1840 shares rose and 521 shares fell. A total of 111 shares were unchanged.
The buying was supported by positive cues from other Asian stock markets, supported by surveys showing higher production across Asia's factories last month, and the the U.S. government's $2 trillion spending plan.
US President Joe Biden unveiled a massive infrastructure package on Wednesday, which includes roughly $2 trillion in spending over eight years. The government will raise the corporate tax rate to 28%, combined with measures designed to stop offshoring of profits, to fund the infrastructure plan within 15 years.
COVID-19 Update:
Also Read
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 128,791,500 with 2,814,899 deaths. India reported 584,055 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 162,927 deaths while 114,74,683 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
No Change In Small Savings Scheme:
The government on Thursday decided to withdraw the rate cut order on the small saving schemes. Finance Minister said interest rates on small savings schemes will continue to be at the levels as in March 2021.
Interest rates of small savings schemes of GoI shall continue to be at the rates which existed in the last quarter of 2020-2021, ie, rates that prevailed as of March 2021. Orders issued by oversight shall be withdrawn, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a tweet early Thursday morning.
The government on Wednesday had announced the new interest rates on post office small savings schemes for the three months ending 30 June 2021. The rates notified for the April to June 2021 quarter were 40 basis points (0.4%) to 110 basis points (1.1%) lower on various instruments including PPF, Senior citizen savings scheme, monthly income account scheme, etc.
Economy:
India's current account balance recorded a deficit of $1.7 billion (0.2% of GDP) in Q3 FY2021 after a surplus of $15.1 billion (2.4% of GDP) in Q2FY2021 and $19.0 billion (3.7% of GDP) in Q1FY2021; a deficit of $2.6 billion (0.4% of GDP) was recorded a year ago. Underlying the current account deficit in Q3FY2021 was a rise in the merchandise trade deficit to $34.5 billion from $14.8 billion in the preceding quarter, and an increase in net investment income payments.
The combined Index of Eight Core Industries stood at 127.8 in February,2021, which declined by 4.6% as compared to the Index of February, 2020. All sectors reported decline in output during the month under review. Its cumulative growth during April to February, 2020-21 has been (-) 8.3%.
Meanwhile, World Bank has raised Indian GDP growth prediction for 2021-22 fiscal to 10.1% from 5.4% projected in January. The international bank said given the significant uncertainty amid Covid-19 effects on the economy, the real India GDP growth could be in the range from 7.5% to 12.5%.
The World Bank in its South Asia Economic Focus Spring update report said that it has revised the projection amid a strong rebound in private consumption and investment growth. The international bank noted that government consumption is expected to rise by about 16.7% during the reported fiscal.
The World Bank, however, sounded a warning as economic activity is well below pre-Covid-19 estimate. It said that businesses need to make up for lost revenue and millions of workers, most of them in the informal sector, still reel from job losses and falling incomes should be taken care.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Metal index surged 1.95% to 4,054.65. The index has rallied 9% in five days.
Steel Authority of India (up 3.04%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 2.6%), Hindustan Zinc (up 2.09%), Hindalco Industries (up 2.03%), National Aluminium Company (up 1.76%), Tata Steel (up 1.58%), Coal India (up 0.84%), Vedanta (up 0.61%) and NMDC (up 0.55%) rallied.
JSW Steel jumped 3.78%. The steel major on Wednesday said it has commenced production of hot rolled plates from the new 5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) hot strip mill facility at Dolvi Works (Maharashtra).
Separately, JSW Steel on Wednesday announced that it has entered into an assignment agreement dated 31 March 2021, whereby Laptev Finance, a JSW Group company, has assigned to JSW all rights and obligations of Laptev under the business transfer agreement dated 31 March 2019 as amended from time to time including the amendment dated 31 March 2021 executed by Laptev with Welspun Corp, for a consideration of Rs 1,00,00,000. Subsequent to the assignment of the business transfer agreement to JSW, Welspun has transferred the PCMD Business to JSW as on 31 March 2021.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) jumped 4.24% to Rs 1037 after the company said it recorded revenue in excess of Rs 22,700 crore for the financial year ended on 31 March 2021, in spite of the COVID-19 disruptions. The corresponding figure for the previous year stood at Rs 21,438 crore. The company has posted a revenue growth of around 6% in FY 2020-21 thanks to the improved productivity after suspending operations for one month in the beginning of the year.
Axis Bank rose 0.43%. The private lender said that it has entered into a share purchase agreement for sale of 100% stake in its subsidiary, Axis Bank UK to OpenPayd Holdings. For the transaction, the bank received the completion net asset value (book value of the bank on the date of completion) plus a fixed premium of $5.5 million.
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