Sensex ends 59.28 points higher; Nifty ends above 9000; Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, Infosys major gainers

New Delhi: Equity benchmark indices on Monday (April 20) ended on the higher note for the third consecutive day, with the Sensex up 59.28 points or 0.19% at 31648.00, while the Nifty ended 4.90 points down or 0.05% at 9261.85. Major gainers on the Nifty were Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, Infosys, and Sun Pharma, while top losers included Hindalco, JSW Steel, Axis Bank, and Bharti Infratel.

HDFC Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying nearly 4 per cent, after the lender posted a 15.4 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 7,280.22 crore for the March quarter on healthy interest income. Infosys jumped over 3 per cent ahead of its quarterly earnings, scheduled to be announced later in the day.

Sun Pharma, NTPC, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, HDFC, RIL, and TCS also closed with gains. On the other hand, Axis Bank was the top laggard, followed by ITC, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, and Maruti Suzuki.

Ahead of the market closure, the Sensex was down 10.86 points or 0.03% at 31577.86, and the Nifty was also down 18.30 points or 0.20% at 9248.45. 

The Indian rupee today declined by 14 paise to settle at 76.53 (provisional) against the US dollar, amid strengthening of the American currency overseas and a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in the country. Forex traders said a firm US dollar weighed on the local unit. Besides, investor sentiment remains fragile amid concerns over the impact of coronavirus outbreak on the domestic as well as the global economy.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened strong at 76.43, but soon lost ground and finally settled at 76.53, registering a fall of 14 paise over its previous close. During the session, the rupee witnessed high volatility and touched a high of 76.43 and a low of 76.68 against the US dollar. On Friday, the rupee had settled at 76.39 against the greenback.

During early hours today, equity benchmark indices were largely flat as Asian markets remained cautious ahead of the economic data that will mirror damage done by global coronavirus lockdown so far. At 10:15 am, the BSE Sensex was up by 71 points or 0.22 per cent at 31,660 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 24 points or 0.26 per cent at 9,291.

Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty FMCG, metal and pharma in the read while realty gained by 2.3 per cent. Among stocks, Tata Motors was up by 7.1 per cent at Rs 82.35 per share while private lenders HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank moved up by 3.7 per cent and 1.4 per cent respectively.

IT majors Infosys edged higher by 3.3 per cent, Tech Mahindra by 2.2 per cent and HCL Technologies by 1.7 per cent. The other major gainers were Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Indian Oil Corporation and metal major Vedanta. But Bharti Infratel, Eicher Motors, Axis Bank, Cipla and Hindalco traded with a negative bias.

Meanwhile, caution recaptured world markets today as another drubbing for US crude oil futures kicked off a week of data and earnings that will drive home the damage being inflicted by global coronavirus lockdowns. European stocks made a choppy start, with the pan-regional EUROSTOXX 600 swinging in and out of positive territory in early trading. London`s FTSE and Germany`s DAX were up 0.2%.

E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 slipped nearly 0.5% too, after Wall Street enjoyed a strong end to last week [.N], though it barely seemed to reflect the latest violent turbulence in oil markets.

With some global storage facilities nearly full to capacity, the `front-month` May benchmark U.S. crude contract was down $3.40, or 18%, to $14.87 a barrel, having at one point dived as low as $14.47 a barrel - the lowest since March 1999.

European benchmark Brent was down a more manageable 3% at $27.30 a barrel, but it all points to the same problem - too much supply, not enough demand.

The equity and other major markets, however, were still trading largely on the newsflow of the European virus numbers gradually coming down, he added. MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.2% in slow trade, pausing after five straight weeks of gains.

Japan`s Nikkei fell 1.2%, but Chinese shares edged up 0.4% as a benchmark lending rate was lowered to shore up the coronavirus-hit economy after it contracted for the first time in decades.

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Republicans were "close" to getting a deal with Democrats on a support package for small businesses. The United States has by far the world`s largest number of confirmed coronavirus cases, with more than 750,000 infections and over 40,500 deaths, according to a Reuters tally.

The S&P 500 has still rallied 30% from its March low, thanks in part to the extreme easing steps taken by the Federal Reserve. The Fed has bought nearly $1.3 trillion of Treasuries alone and many billions of non-sovereign debt it would historically have never gone near.

In the currency markets, the dollar gained broadly as the concerns about global growth boosted the safe-haven appeal of the greenback and weighed on risk-oriented currencies such as the Australian dollar. Against a basket of its rivals, the US currency rose 0.2% to 99.90 and edged closer towards a three-year high of near 103 hits last month.

It gained about 0.1% on the euro and British pound and 0.2% on the Japanese yen. It last bought 107.80 yen and traded at $1.2478 per pound GBP= and $1.0870 per euro. The dollar`s gains were despite the latest trader positioning data showing investors have been ramping up their short positions or bets against the greenback.

Bond markets also suggested investors expected tough economic times ahead, with yields on US 10-year Treasuries steady at 0.63%, from 1.91% at the start of the year.

(With Agency Inputs)