Broader markets, however, outperformed the benchmark indices. In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.90% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 1.86%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1493 shares rose and 860 shares fell. A total of 161 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 20 stocks advanced while 30 stocks declined.
Shares surged in morning trade amid signs that virus cases were potentially peaking. China on Tuesday reported no new deaths from coronavirus over the past 24 hours. The number of new coronavirus cases was dropping in the European hot spots of Italy and Spain.
However, profit selling emerged at higher levels. The benchmarks later hit the day's low in mid-afternoon trade after Prime Minister Modi on Wednesday hinted that the Centre in all likelihood will be extending the nationwide lockdown that is supposed to end on April 14. In a video meeting with leaders of all parties, PM Modi reportedly said he would consult with Chief Ministers but by all accounts the lifting of the lockdown "is not possible".
Meanwhile, rating agency ICRA on Tuesday said that it was expecting the coronavirus to impact India Inc on multiple counts. The fallout of the virus could range from domestic demand slowdown, supply chain disruptions to foreign exchange rate fluctuations, among others. Icra Ratings on Tuesday sharply cut the country's GDP forecast amid the COVID-19 crisis and expects the economy to grow at just 2% in the current fiscal. It said the nationwide lockdown announced to contain the coronavirus outbreak has impacted industries and their operations have come to a standstill. "The Indian economy is likely to witness a sharp contraction of 4.5% (de-growth) during Q4 FY20 and is expected to recover gradually, to post a GDP growth of just 2% in FY21," ICRA said.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Pharma index rose 3.60% to 8,417.20, outperforming the other sectoral indices on the NSE. The index has added 19.78% in three sessions.
Among the pharma stocks, Alkem Laboratories (up 14.49%) Cadila Healthcare (up 11.23%), Wockhardt (up 10%), IPCA Laboratories (up 5.9%), Divi's Laboratories (up 5.25%), Abbott India (up 4.8%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 4.57%), Cipla (up 4.18%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 2.67%), Piramal Enterprises (up 2.48%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 2.22%), Strides Shasun (up 1.71%) and Lupin (up 0.48%) advanced.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) advanced 0.97% to Rs 809.40 after the company said its wholly owned subsidiary, L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering (LTHE), secured a 'large' project from Indian Oil Corporation. The engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) contract is for setting up a new 9 MMTPA atmospheric & vacuum distillation unit (AVU) and allied facilities (EPCC-1 package) for Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL)'s Barauni refinery capacity expansion project in Bihar. The capacity of Barauni refinery is being augmented from current installed capacity of 6.0 MMTPA to 9.0 MMTPA. As per the L&T's classification, the valuation of the 'large' order stands between Rs 2,500 and 5,000 crore. The disclosure was made during trading hours today, 8 April 2020.
Maruti Suzuki India's rose 3.31% to Rs 4700. The company's total production dropped 32.06% to 92,540 units in March 2020 from 1.36 lakh units in March 2019. Total passenger vehicles declined 32.27% to 91,602 units in March 2020 from 1.35 lakh units in March 2019. Production of light commercial vehicles fell 2.8% to 938 units in March 2020 from 965 units in March 2019. On a sequential basis, the company's total passenger vehicles slipped 34.74% in March 2020 from 1.40 lakh units reported in February 2020. Production of light commercial vehicles jumped 66.61% in March 2020 as compared to 563 units produced in February 2020. Total production declined 34.34% in March 2020 as compared to 140,933 units produced in February 2020.
Va Tech Wabag hit an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 81.90 after the company secured 4.5 million Bahraini Dinar (approximately Rs 90 crore) order from Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning ('MoW') in Kingdom of Bahrain towards operation, maintenance and management of the Madinat Salman sewage treatment plant and long sea outfall for a period of 5 years.
Sudarshan Chemical Industries (SCIL) rose 3.68% to Rs 383.10 after India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) revised its outlook on the company to positive from stable while affirming its long-term issuer rating at IND A+. India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) said the outlook revision reflects Ind-Ra's expectation of sustenance of SCIL's strong credit profile over the medium term, driven by the steady growth in its profitability amid a supportive demand environment. The revenues growth is likely to be underpinned by the increased capacity of existing products and launch of new products. The margins are expected to remain resilient due to an improved product mix, backward integration, cost optimisation, and higher operating leverage
DCM Shriram added 4.05% to Rs 218.40. The company said that the production at its Caustic Soda Plant located at Bharuch will be commenced from Thursday, 9 April 2020. The production will be carried out at 150 TPD level which is at 10% of company's full capacity. The company said it will gradually ramp up production over next few days depending upon market situation and Government directives. Furthermore, the company said the production of SBP at the Kota plant of Company has also started at around 60 TPD level which is around 75% of total SBP capacity and the plant at Kota will be operative from 8 April 2020.
JSW Energy fell 1.29% to Rs 42.10. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved acquisition of GMR Kamalanga Energy by the company. The proposed combination envisages the acquisition of the entire (i.e., 100%) shareholding of the GMR Kamalanga Energy by JSW Energy.
West Coast Paper Mills gained 3.33% to Rs 141.10. The company said that it has partially started production at Paper and Duplex Board Division, Dandeli with a bare minimal strength of staff and labour.
Thermax fell 1.94% to Rs 713. The company said that CRISIL had assigned a long term rating of 'CRISIL AA+/Stable' and a short term rating of 'CRISIL A1+' on the bank facilities of the company worth Rs 3260 crore.
Global Markets:
Shares in Europe and Asia declined on Wednesday as countries in the region continued to put measures in place to battle the coronavirus pandemic.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency to fight new coronavirus infections in major population centers. Abe also unveiled a stimulus package worth 108 trillion yen ($990 billion) - equal to 20% of Japan's economic output - to cushion the impact of the epidemic on the world's third-largest economy.
Singapore also passed a set of laws that bans social gatherings of any size in both private and public areas, as per reports. Hong Kong reportedly extended its ban on public gatherings of more than four people, as well as the closure of some bars, till 23 April 2020.
Meanwhile, China lifted travel restrictions in Wuhan, the virus epicenter in mainland China, effective from Wednesday, marking the end of a lockdown that began on 23 January 2020.
Meanwhile, Euro zone finance ministers reportedly failed to reach an agreement Wednesday on how to provide additional stimulus to weather the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. As per reports, the group had been working on a new credit line to be provided by the European Stability Mechanism an emergency fund that was set up in the wake of the sovereign debt crisis. The reports further added that the Ministers were also divided over developing a new debt instrument.
In US, stocks finished lower Tuesday, far from session highs, thwarting a second session of gains despite signs that the COVID-19 pandemic may be leveling off in parts of the world. Markets also kept an eye on further planned US measures to help dampen the recessionary impact of shutdowns and business closures intended to limit the epidemic.
In economic news, the NFIB survey, a monthly snapshot of small businesses, found that the optimism index fell in March to 96.4, an 8.1-point decline and the largest monthly decline in the survey's history.
Globally, more than 1.4 million have been infected by the coronavirus so far while at least 81,000 lives have been taken, according to data compiled by John Hopkins University.
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