The benchmark indices once again slipped towards the day's low in afternoon trade. Barring the Nifty Pharma index, all the sectoral indices on the NSE were in the red. Banks and metal shares tumbled.
At 13:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tumbled 673.08 points or 1.34% at 49,378.36. The Nifty 50 index skid 199 points or 1.34% at 14,615.75.
ICICI Bank (down 2.80%), HDFC (down 2.27%) and Reliance Industries (down 1.58%) were major drags.
The broader market outperformed the benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.82%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.65%.
Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 933 shares rose and 1,828 shares fell. A total of 168 shares were unchanged.
Domestic shares mirrored the weakness in other global stock markets as rising COVID-19 cases drove demand for safe assets, resulting into flight of capital into treasuries and the dollar. Germany, France and Italy have widened virus-related curbs. The head of the World Health Organization called recent increases in deaths and cases "truly worrying trends." Consequently, the crude oil was struggling to hold above the $60 mark after it dropped nearly 6% in the previous session as renewed possibility of lockdowns clouded hopes of recovery in consumption.
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COVID-19 Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 12,42,02,265 with 27,34,098 deaths. India reported 3,68,457 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,60,441 deaths while 1,12,05,160 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
India recorded 47,262 new cases of the coronavirus disease in a timespan of 24 hours, according to Union health ministry update on Wednesday. Maharashtra recorded 28,699 new Covid-19 cases and 132 deaths. The five most affected states by total cases are Maharashtra (2,533,026), Kerala (1,105,467), Karnataka (971,647), Andhra Pradesh (894,044), and Tamil Nadu (868,367).
Meanwhile, the government has decided to open up its vaccination drive for all above 45 years of age from 1 April 2021, and requested that all eligible people should immediately register and get vaccinated. The rest of the population could be considered for vaccination coverage once the current stage is over.
Gainers & Losers:
Cipla (up 2.04%), Power Grid Corporation of India (up 1.53%), Asian Paints (up 1.36%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 0.82%) and Divi's Laboratories (up 0.76%) were major gainers in Nifty 50 index.
Tata Steel (down 3.80%), Hindalco Industries (down 3.53%), ONGC (down 2.89%) and GAIL (India) (down 2.79%) were major losers in Nifty 50 index.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Grasim Industries fell 1.14%. The board of the company at its meeting held on 24 March 2021 approved raising funds by availing term loans or by issuing debt securities in India or overseas within the overall borrowing limit of Rs 10,000 crore.
Dalmia Bharat advanced 3.17% after the company said its a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, Dalmia Cement (Bharat), has commenced commercial production of Line II having a capacity of 2.25 million tons at its Bengal Cement Works (BCW) unit in West Midnapore in the state of West Bengal. This addition will increase the overall capacity of the BCW unit to 4 million tons per annum.
In a separate announcement, the company said that its board on Tuesday, 23 March 2021, appointed Dharmender Tuteja as chief financial officer (CFO) and key managerial personnel of the company with effect from 23 March 2021.
Cadila Healthcare rose 0.43%. The company and its subsidiary Zydus Pharmaceuticals (USA) Inc. have reached an agreement with Celgene Corporation (Celgene), a wholly owned subsidiary of Bristol Myers Squibb relating to patents for Revlimid (lenalidomide). As part of the settlement, the parties will file consent judgments with the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey that enjoin Zydus Cadila from marketing generic lenalidomide before the expiration of the patents-in-suit, except as provided for in the settlement.
Global Markets:
Shares in Europe and Asia declined on Wednesday as concerns over the world's recovery from the pandemic weighed on investor sentiment.
An expansion of Japan's factory activity gathered pace in March, a private sector survey showed on Wednesday. The au Jibun Bank Flash Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to a seasonally adjusted 52.0 in March from a final 51.4 in February.
The World Health Organization said most regions of the globe are seeing an increase in new COVID-19 cases as highly contagious variants continue to spread. Germany is extending its lockdown until 18 April, while nearly a third of France entered a month-long shutdown on Saturday.
US stocks tumbled on Tuesday as concerns about the cost of infrastructure spending and potential tax hikes to pay for President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion relief bill weighed on investors.
Federal Reserve' Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen made their first joint appearance Tuesday before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services. The duo acknowledged the richly valued asset prices in the markets, but said that they are not worried about financial stability.
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