Market Wrap, April 19: Here's all that happened in the markets today

The economic fallout of the second, stronger, and more lethal wave of Covid-19 butchered bulls on Dalal Street on Monday as investors sold shares worth Rs 3.6 trillion. And not just domestic investors, FPIs too seem to be second-guessing the India recovery story. The foreign portfolio investors have pulled out a net Rs 4,615 crore from Indian markets in April so far which is also putting pressure on the rupee. The domestic currency on Monday slipped 53 paise and ended at 74.88 per US dollar.

While the defensive counters witnessed restricted profit-booking, cyclical sectors cracked hard at the bourses. On the National Stock Exchange, the Nifty Pharma index was the only index that ended in the green, up 0.17 per cent, after media reports suggested that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to hold a meeting with top pharma firms later this evening to discuss supply crunch of various Covid-related drugs.  

Among other defensive sectors, the Nifty IT and FMCG indices ended 0.33 per cent and 0.9 per cent down, respectively. Among cyclicals, the Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Bank, Nifty Private Bank, and Nifty Financial Services indices slipped between 2.5 per cent and 4 per cent as concerns over near-term growth momentum and asset quality improvement due to the pandemic-induced local lockdowns weighed on sentiment.

AU Small Finance Bank, IDFC First Bank, RBL Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finance, and HDFC slipped between 5 per cent and 7 per cent in the intra-day trade.

The Nifty Auto, Realty, and Metal indices, meanwhile, tumbled up to 4 per cent.

Overall, the S&P BSE Sensex tanked 1,469 points in the early deals to hit a low of 47,363 levels. On the NSE, the Nifty plummeted 427 points to 14,191 levels. However, buying at lower levels in the pharma and IT space lifted Sensex and Nifty nearly 600 points and 170 points off lows. At close, the Sensex index quoted 47,949 levels, down 883 points while the Nifty50 was at 14,359 levels, down 258 points. Both the indices ended at 1-week lows, down 1.8 per cent each.

Britannia, Dr Reddy's Labs, Infosys, Wipro, and Cipla were the only gainers on the Nifty index, up between 0.6 per cent and 1.5 per cent. On the downside, Adani Ports, Power Grid, ONGC, Hero MotoCorp, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and HDFC Life were the top drags, down up to 4 per cent.

In the broader markets, the S&P BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices declined 1.9 per cent and 1.6 per cent, respectively.

>> Individually, shares of Macrotech Developers listed at Rs 439, a 10 per cent discount from its issue price of Rs 486 per share. The stock listed at Rs 436 on the National Stock Exchange. It eventually ended at Rs 463 per share, down 4.7 per cent against the issue price.

>> That apart, shares of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals hit a 23-month high of Rs 587.50, up 3 per cent, on the BSE in the intra-day trade today after the company announced that its API division, Glenmark Life Sciences, is planning to raise funds via an initial public offer. Glenmark Life Sciences, on April 16, filed a draft red herring prospectus with Sebi for an IPO, comprising a fresh issue of up to Rs 1,160 crore and an offer for sale of up to 7.3 million equity shares. The stock settled 1 per cent higher at Rs 579 apiece.

>> Market participants also offloaded shares of private lender HDFC Bank on Monday as near-term concerns on the bank’s growth prospects weighed on investors’ minds. Shares of the Mumbai-based bank skidded 4 per cent in the intra-day trade but eventually settled 1 per cent lower at Rs 1,412 apiece. Despite the robust credit growth and stable asset quality in the March quarter, analysts believe the second wave of the coronavirus may delay growth and asset quality normalization in the near-to-medium term.

Global markets
 

Contrary to Indian markets, world shares traded near record highs as markets were generally upbeat about the prospects for a global economic recovery from Covid-19, ahead of a busy week for earnings.

Europe's STOXX 600 was up 0.2 per cent while MSCI’s main European Index was up 0.1 per cent. Japan's Nikkei and South Korea's Kospi ended mildly higher while China CSI300 index jumped 2.4 per cent.