The undertone of the market was still bullish amid hopes that the government may come out with stimulus measures for industries before the end of 21-day lockdown on 14 April 2020.
Sentiment also got a boost 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.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index jumped 2.30% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 2.10%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1440 shares rose and 699 shares fell. A total of 152 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 33 stocks advanced while 17 stocks declined.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 5.80%), Bharti Infratel (up 4.67%), Cipla (up 4.60%), GAIL (India) (up 4.56%) and NTPC (up 4.23%) were the top gainers.
TCS (down 3.03%), Titan Company (down 1.54%), IndusInd Bank (down 1.26%), Bharti Airtel (down 1.22%) and Grasim Industries (up 1.13%) were the top losers.
IT major Wipro were up 1.77% at Rs 195.30. The company said its board will consider Q4 results on 15 April 2020.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) advanced 0.61% to Rs 806.50 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 2.21% to Rs 4650. 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.
Global Markets:
European markets opened lower while Asian stocks were trading mostly lower 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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