The market barometers traded in a narrow range in early afternoon trade. At 12:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 607.21 points or 1.90% at 31,401.40. The Nifty 50 index was down 170.95 points or 1.82% at 9,212.60.
A weak economic outlook by the US Fed weighed on global stock markets. Worries about a second wave of coronavirus infections also impacted trading sentiment. Investors shrugged off a number of measures announced by the Indian government to support MSMEs and NBFCs.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.13% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index lost 0.36%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On the BSE, 836 shares rose and 1187 shares fell. A total of 123 shares were unchanged. In the Nifty 50 index, 12 shares advanced while 38 stocks declined.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 0.09% to 38.1675. The Nifty April 2020 futures were trading at 9,214, a premium of 1.4 points compared with the spot at 9,212.60.
On the options front, the Nifty option chain for 28 May 2020 expiry showed maximum call open interest (OI) of 21.09 lakh contracts at the 10,000 strike price. Maximum put OI of 23.23 lakh contracts was seen at 9,000 strike price.
Buzzing Index:
Shares of private power producers advanced after the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced Rs 90,000-crore liquidity facility for power distribution companies (DISCOMs). The announcement is expected to offer a big boost to power producing firms.
Adani Power (up 6.91%), Tata Power (up 5.28%), Jaiprakash Power Ventures (up 4.71%), Reliance Power (up 4.68%), Reliance Infrastructure (up 2.89%), Torrent Power (up 2.6%), JSW Energy (up 1.85%), CESC (up 1.59%), GMR Infrastructure (up 0.28%) advanced.
State-run NTPC was down 4.19% at Rs 89.10.
As about 70% of revenue of the DISCOMs reportedly comes from industrial and commercial customers, lower usage by these categories on account of the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown means additional pressure on these already distressed entities. Media reports suggested that the DISCOMs are running a cash deficit of almost Rs 300 crore per day due to Covid-related demand destruction. The liquidity infusion by the government will reportedly help DISCOMs repay most of the money that they owe to power generators.
Stocks in Spotlight:
CSB Bank slipped 0.88% to Rs 118.55. The bank said its total deposits rose 4.41% to Rs 15,790.66 crore (provisional) in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019. Out of the total deposits, CASA deposits grew 9.40% to Rs 4606.58 crore and term deposits rose 4.30% to Rs 11,184.08 crore year-on-year (YoY) during the quarter.
Advances against gold & gold jewellery jumped 28.54% to Rs 3790.11 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019. Gross advances were up 6% to Rs 11,558.9 crore. Liquidity coverage ratio stood at 245% as compared to 214.80% during the same period last year.
Lupin gained 1.21% to Rs 849.95 after the company said its active pharmaceutical ingredient facility in Visakhapatnam received establishment inspection report from the US drug regulator. The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) conducted the inspection of the Visakhapatnam (Vizag) facility between 13 and 17 January 2020.
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