Markets witnessed a lacklustre trade on the day of the weekly F&O expiry as consistent rise in Covid-19 cases kept investors on the fence. The sudden and steep surge in the number of coronavirus cases has swamped the health system, which seemed to have collapsed. Given this, Fitch Solutions has cut India's FY22 GDP growth forecast to 9.5 per cent that further kept investment activity in check.
That said, March quarter results did lead to a sharp, stock-specific movement in select counters. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex swung within a band of 400 points today, hitting a high and low of 49,011 and 48,614 levels, respectively.
At close, the BSE barometer settled at 48,950, up 272 points or 0.5 per cent. Bajaj Auto (up 2.5 per cent) closed the session as the top index performer, followed by HDFC, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Nestle India, and Kotak Mahindra Bank. On the downside, Bajaj Finserv, PowerGrid, ONGC, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, and NTPC settled as top laggards, down up to 1 per cent.
On the NSE, the 50-share index closed at 14,725 level, up 107 points or 0.7 per cent. About 35 of the 50 constituents on the index settled firm including Hindalco, Wipro, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors, Eicher Motors, and Bajaj Auto.
The broader markets, too, performed in-line with frontline indices. The S&P BSE MidCap index added 0.9 per cent while the S&P BSE SmallCap index gained 0.6 per cent. Motilal Oswal Financial Services, IDBI Bank, Mphasis, Jindal Steel, Coforge, Angel Broking, Datamatics, and Subex were some of the outperformers in the broader market space.
Sectorally, the Nifty PSU Bank and Pharma indices nursed losses on the NSE today, down 1.2 per cent and 0.3 per cent, respectively. On the upside, metals and IT stocks continued to shine with the respective sectoral indices soaring up to 2.5 per cent.
Buzzing stocks
>> Shares of information technology companies were in focus at the bourses on Thursday, with Coforge rallying 19 per cent to hit a record high of Rs 3,448 on the BSE after the company reported a healthy set of numbers for the quarter ended March 2021.
Besides Coforge, Wipro, Mindtree, Mpahsis and Firstsource Solutions hit their respective record highs on the BSE while Mastek, Intellect Design Arena, Sasken Technologies, Newgen Software Technologies, Nucleus Software Services and Sonata Software surged in the range of 5 per cent to 11 per cent in the intra-day trade.
>> That apart, shares of Tata Steel rose 6 per cent and hit a new high of Rs 1,129 on the BSE in intra-day trade on Thursday after the company reported a higher-than-expected consolidated net profit at Rs 6,644 crore in the March quarter of FY21, against a net loss of Rs 1,481 crore in the corresponding period last year.
>> Shares of IDBI Bank also surged 15 per cent to Rs 43.50 on the BSE in the intra-day trade on Thursday after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its in-principle approval for strategic disinvestment along with transfer of management control in IDBI Bank. Currently, LIC, that owns 49 per cent stake, is the promoter of the bank and has management control, while the government is the co-promoter with a 45 per cent stake. The shares, however, ended 6 per cent higher on the BSE.
>> Lastly, shares of Hero MotoCorp ended 4.5 per cent higher on the BSE, ahead of Q4 results announcement, slated later today. Analysts expect the two-wheeler manufacturer to post nearly 60 per cent year-on-year growth in Ebitda aided by healthy sales volume and low base effect. Net profit, meanwhile, may rise about 30 per cent YoY.
Global markets
European stocks inched higher on Thursday, hovering near record levels, as strong earnings reports from AB Inbev and several eurozone banks added to an upbeat mood.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.2 per cent, with food and beverage, utilities and telecoms leading the gains.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei jumped 1.8 per cent as it reopened after a five-day holiday while MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.19 per cent. But Chinese shares, also resuming trade for the first time since last week, wobbled. The CSI300 fell 1.2 per cent.
On Wall Street, futures of all the three main indices were marginally higher, indicating a flat to positive start later today.
 "Market Wrap, May 06: Here's all that happened in the markets today")
