Sensex adds 848 pts, ends at 49,581 on broad-based buying; Nifty Bank up 4%

Eight of the top 10 index contributors included names like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC, SBI, Axis Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank

10:45 AM

MARKET UPDATE:: Indices extend gains; Sensex up 500 pts

10:35 AM

Gold scales over three-month high on virus worries, lower US yields

Gold prices rose on Monday to their highest level in more than three months, as a dip in U.S. Treasury yields and worries over surging COVID-19 cases in some Asian countries boosted demand for the safe-haven metal. Spot gold was up 0.6 per cent at $1,852.39 per ounce by 0318 GMT, after hitting its highest since Feb. 10 earlier in the session. US gold futures jumped 0.7 per cent to $1,851.10. READ MORE

10:25 AM

SECTOR WATCH:: Nifty Bank index up over 600 points

10:20 AM

Hester Biosciences zooms 33% in 2 days as firm in talks to produce Covaxin

Shares of Hester Biosciences rallied 19 per cent to Rs 2,944 on the BSE in intra-day trade on Monday, up 33 per cent in the past two trading days, after the pharmaceutical company said it has tied up with the Gujarat government to explore the production of Covid-19 vaccine through technology transfer from Bharat Biotech. The Ahmedabad-based firm said it has already initiated discussions with Bharat Biotech in this regard. The stock was trading at its all-time high level on the BSE. READ MORE

10:11 AM

Cyclone Taukte :: Mumbai airport suspends ops for 3 hrs

10:04 AM

Rupee opening

Rupee opens at 73.27 per US dollar vs Friday's close of 73.29/$

10:00 AM

L&T shares decline over 3% amid profit booking post March quarter results

Shares of engineering major Larsen and Toubro (L&T) declined 3.3 per cent to Rs 1,368.5 on the BSE in Monday's intra-day deals on the back of profit booking. India’s largest engineering and construction firm on Friday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 3,293 crore for March quarter of FY21 (Q4FY21), up 3 per cent year-on-year (YoY), on higher revenues and surge in other income. READ MORE

9:56 AM

Asia shares left listless as Chinese sales data misses expectations

Asian share markets turned mixed on Monday as data on Chinese retail sales missed expectations though industrial output stayed solid, while more evidence of global inflation pressures helped gold to a three-month peak. Chinese retail sales rose 17.7 per cent in April on a year ago, short of forecasts for a jump of 24.8 per cent, while industrial output matched expectations with a rise of 9.8 per cent. READ MORE

9:50 AM

Most active stocks by volume

Company	PRICE(rs)	CHG(%)	VOLUME
Vodafone Idea	8.58	-0.69	3079430
Punjab Natl.Bank	37.25	1.09	1369345
S A I L	125.55	-1.30	1209283
South Ind.Bank	10.76	-2.45	1139887
Trident	16.17	-4.55	1139086

9:45 AM

NEWS ALERT :: Krsnaa Diagnostics seeks Sebi approval for IPO

>> Company seeks to raise Rs 400 crore via new shares

(Source: TV report)

9:41 AM

MARKET VIEW | V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services

There are two macro numbers that will exert a big influence on the markets. Externally US inflation numbers and internally India's Covid data. The jury is still out on US inflation with Fed claiming that the spike in inflation in April is transitory and many economists & market experts believing that inflation will continue to rise to force the Fed to taper earlier than expected. We will have to wait to see how the inflation scenario play out. The other number, India's Covid data, indicates steady improvement with fresh cases steadily declining and the latest number at 2.81lakhs is indeed very positive. And, the recovery numbers at 3.78 lakhs indicate a steady decline in total caseload. This means the present increasing lockdowns will be a temporary phase whichis likely to be ignored by the market. The market is likely to ignore the worse-than-expected Q1 FY22 GDP and earning numbers since a turn around looks imminent in the subsequent quarters.

9:40 AM

PNB gains over 1% on raising Rs 1,800 crore via QIP issue

>> Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Saturday said it has raised Rs 1,800 crore by selling 53 crore shares on a private placement basis to investors like LIC and Societe Generale. Eligible Qualified Institutional Buyers were given the share at an issue price of Rs 33.75 per unit aggregating to Rs 1,799.99 crore, PNB said.

9:38 AM

Result Reaction :: Escorts Q4 numbers fail to impress Street, stock tanks over 3%

>> Farm equipment and engineering major Escorts on Friday reported over two-fold jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 285.41 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 2021, mainly driven by robust sales. The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 127.73 crore in the same period previous fiscal, Escorts Ltd said in a regulatory filing.

9:36 AM

Bata India gains over 3% on appointment of new CEO

>> Leading footwear major Bata India on Friday said it has appointed Gunjan Shah, the former chief commercial officer of Britannia Industries, as its new chief executive officer.

9:34 AM

Cipla slips 3% despite a 73% YoY jump in consolidate net profit

Drug major Cipla posted a 73 per cent YoY rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 412 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2021 on the back of robust sales across markets. The Mumbai-based firm had reported a net profit of Rs 238 crore in January-March 2019-20.