The barometer S&P BSE Sensex, rose 605.64 points or 1.89% at 32,720.16. The Nifty 50 index added 172.45 points or 1.84% at 9,553.35.
Gains were broad based. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 1% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 1.04%. Both these indices trailed the Sensex.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1390 shares rose and 967 shares fell. A total of 192 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 38 stocks advanced while 12 stocks declined.
Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday slashed India growth forecast for calendar year 2020 to 0.2%, from 2.5% projected earlier. For 2021, Moody's expects India's growth to rebound to 6.2%. Moody's said the economic costs of coronavirus crisis amid the near shutdown of the global economy are accumulating rapidly.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Metal index gained 3.74% to end at 1,723.80, advancing the most among the sectoral indices on the NSE.
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Steel Authority of India (up 9.85%), Hindalco Industries (up 6.94%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 4.47%), Hindustan Zinc (up 3.66%), Tata Steel (up 3.27%), Vedanta (up 2.93%), NMDC (up 2.66%), JSW Steel (up 2.57%), Hindustan Copper (up 1.8%), National Aluminium Company (up 0.98%) edged higher.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Axis Bank declined 3.85% to Rs 438 after the bank reported a net loss of Rs 1387.78 crore in Q4 March 2020 compared with net profit of Rs 1505.06 crore in Q4 March 2019. Total income rose 10.34% to Rs 20,219.57 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019. The bank's Net Interest Income (NII) grew 19% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 6,808 crore during Q4 March 2020 from Rs 5,706 crore in Q4 March 2019. Net interest margin for Q4 March 2020 was 3.55%.
The bank's provisions and contingencies surged 185.09% to Rs 7730.02 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019. The provision amount includes Rs 3,000 crore related to Covid-19, taking the overall additional provisions held by the bank to Rs 5,983 crore. The bank's gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at Rs 30233.82 crore as on 31 March 2020 as against Rs 30073.02 crore as on 31 December 2019 and Rs 29789.44 crore as on 31 March 2019. The ratio of gross NPAs to gross advances stood at 4.86% as on 31 March 2020 as against 5% as on 31 December 2019 and 5.26% as on 31 March 2019.
Hexaware Technologies rose 3.10% to Rs 296.05 after consolidated net profit rose 4.27% to Rs 174.96 crore on a 0.85% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 1541.75 crore in Q1 March 2020 over Q4 December 2019. EBITDA (post Restricted Stock Units) fell 2.54% to Rs 233.60 crore in Q1 March 2020 as against Rs 239.70 crore in Q4 December 2019. The company follows January-December as its fiscal year for accounting.
The company has suspend the guidance that was provided earlier for FY2020, as COVID-19 has led to significant uncertainty in the current environment. In the previous quarter, the company had forecast its revenue in FY2020 to grow in the range of 15%-17% and had pegged EBITDA (post RSU cost) growth in the range of 15%-16%.
Strides Pharma Science hit an upper circuit of 20% at Rs 449.10 after the company announced that it has developed and commercialized Favipiravir antiviral tablets. Favipiravir is an antiviral medication that was initially developed to treat influenza in Japan. The drug is a generic version of Avigan of Toyama Chemical, Japan. In February 2020, post the outbreak of Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19), Favipiravir was studied in China and several other countries as an experimental treatment of Covid-19. The drug has demonstrated positive outcomes, including a reduction in the duration of Covid-19 and improved lung conditions for the patients.
Spandana Sphoorty Financial hit an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 432.40 after the company said 79% of its 1,006 branches have been operational since 20 April 2020. The rest of its branches are expected to open soon, following the lifting of the national lockdown. Almost none of Spandana's branches are in 'Red' zones, given the company's rural footprint.
Average ticket size of the company's loans is Rs 23,940 as compared to Rs 37,465 for the industry - this means that the company's borrowers are better positioned to cover a missed installment as against others. It has collected over Rs 13.30 crore in the last one week despite the tight restrictions in operations.
Spandana has received moratorium from most lenders, in line with RBI's Covid-19 regulatory package announcement. The company has, however, serviced debt obligations of all lenders - both principal and interest for March 2020 and April 2020, despite having the option of a moratorium. Its loan accounts with each and every lender is regular as on date.
After the imposition of the national lockdown, the company has raised approximately Rs 800 crore in form of direct assignment and term loans from marquee institutions such as the State Bank of India and NABARD. The company is working with various banks under the TLTRO 2.0 program, and with government institutions such as SIDBI and NABARD for further funding.
Global Markets:
Shares in Europe and Asian rose across the board on Wednesday as investors await the US Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates.
The US Fed is expected to announce its interest rate decision later in the global day. Investors will look for guidance on the US central bank's future path of interest rates as the country looks toward gradually reopening its economy.
In US, Wall Street's major indexes lost ground on Tuesday as investors moved out of market-leading growth stocks, though a rotation into cyclical value stocks indicated hopes of economic revival as states began to relax restrictions enacted to fight the deadly COVID-19 pandemic
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