Key indices were trading sharply higher on strong buying in index stocks. At 9:24 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 523.26 points or 1.37% at 38,820.55. The Nifty 50 index was up 162.85 points or 1.45% at 11,364.60.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 1.50%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 1.59%. Both these indices outperformed the BSE Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1019 shares rose and 227 shares fell. A total of 45 shares were unchanged.
Stocks in news:
Maruti Suzuki India rose 0.86%. Maruti Suzuki India reported a decline of 1.1% in overall sales, including domestic and exports. Maruti sold 147,110 units in February 2020 as compared to 1,48,682 units in February 2019.
Mahindra & Mahindra fell 2.10%. Mahindra & Mahindra reported a 42% fall in total automotive sales to 32,476 units in February 2020 from 56,005 units in February 2019.
Tata Motors shed 0.04%. Tata Motors reported 32.4% decline in total sales (domestic & international) to 40,634 units in February 2020 from 60,151 units in February 2019.
Eicher Motors gained 1.43%. Eicher Motors' unlisted subsidiary VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV) reported 28.7% decline in total sales to 4,586 units in February 2020 from 6,428 units in February 2019.
Reliance Industries jumped 2.51%. Reliance Industries (RIL) said it has acquired 37.7% stake in textile manufacturer Alok Industries for Rs 250 crore. RIL and JM Financial Asset Reconstruction Co had jointly bid for acquiring Alok Industries that was auctioned under the insolvency and bankruptcy law by lenders to recover their unpaid loans.
Bharti Airtel was up 1.17%. Bharti Airtel said it has paid an additional Rs 8,004 crore towards AGR dues. With the latest payment, the company has paid Rs 18,004 crore in all. The company has also deposited an additional amount of Rs 5,000 crore as an ad-hoc payment to cover differences, if any, arising from the reconciliation exercise with the Department of Telecommunication (DoT).
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories advanced 0.98%. Dr. Reddy's Laboratories said that the U.S. Food and Drug Administrator Investigator has revised Form 483 with just one observation, in place of two observations intimated earlier for the Formulations Manufacturing Plant - 3 at Bachupally, Hyderabad.
NTPC was up 1.97%. NTPC declared the commencement of 800 MW Unit#1 of Darlipalli Super Thermal Power Station Stage-I (2 x 800 MW). The commercial production will start from 1 March 2020. With this, the commercial capacity of NTPC and NTPC group will become 49,695 MW and 58,156 MW respectively.
Global Markets:
Overseas, most Asian stocks were trading lower on Monday as investors were rattled by weekend data from China that showed its fastest ever contraction in factory activity, raising fears of a global recession from the coronavirus..
Chinese factory activity slumped to its sharpest contraction on record after the virus crippled manufacturing in February. The closely watched Caixin/Markit manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) tumbled to 40.3 last month, the lowest level since the survey began in 2004, and down sharply from the 51.1 reading in January.
In US, stocks closed mostly lower on Friday, but off session lows, while recording their worst weekly slide since October 2008 amid intensifying fears over the potential degree of damage the spread of COVID-19 will inflict on the global economy and supply chains.
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