Market firms up; metal stocks shine

Key market benchmarks firmed up further and hit fresh intraday high in in morning trade. The Nifty reclaimed 8450 level. Buying was broad based with metal stocks at the fore. At 10:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 648.62 points or 2.28% at 29,088.52. The Nifty 50 index was up 193.55 points 2.34% at 8,474.65.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 1.18% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 1.65%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1148 shares rose and 468 shares fell. A total of 101 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 44 stocks advanced while 6 stocks declined.

 

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index jumped 4.33% to 1,572.95 on positive Chinese data.

China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) bounced to 52 in March, up from a record-low 35.7 in February. China is the world's largest producer and consumer of industrial metals.

Vedanta (up 7.14%), Hindalco Industries (up 6.37%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 5.06%), JSW Steel (up 4.64%), Tata Steel (up 4.43%), Steel Authority of India (up 4.18%), NMDC (up 3.83%), Coal India (up 2.51%), Hindustan Zinc (up 2.13%) and National Aluminium Company (up 1.96%) were top gainers in metal space.

Stocks in Spotlight:

IndusInd Bank crashed 12.77% to Rs 359. The bank in a conference call hosted yesterday informed that it has seen a withdrawal of 10-11% of its deposits, largely led by a state government. Wholesale and retail deposits too saw a decline. The lender said it has replaced the outflows via various means such as long duration refinance/forex borrowings swapped to the Indian Rupee. The lender also said that the moratorium granted by the RBI should help its portfolio in various segments.

Reliance Industries (RIL) advanced 2.25% to Rs 1,055.55. The company said its board will meet on 2 April 2020 to consider raising funds by issuing listed, secured/unsecured, redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on private placement basis in one or more tranches/series.

Fortis Healthcare informed that ICRA has upgraded the company's long-term rating to [ICRA] A- from [ICRA] BBB+ and the short term rating to [ICRA] A1 from [ICRA] A2. The credit rating agency has also upgraded Fortis Hospitals (company's subsidiary) long-term rating to [ICRA] 'A-' from [ICRA] 'BBB+'. Further, the short-term rating of the company's subsidiary has been upgraded to [ICRA] 'A1' from [ICRA] 'A2'. Shares of Fortis Healthcare were trading 0.35% higher at Rs 127.35.

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