Sensex closes 131.18 points down, Nifty settles at 8660.25; Coal India, Axis Bank, ITC major gainers

Image courtesy: Reuters

New Delhi: Equity benchmark indices on Friday (March 27) ended not with enthusiasm amid RBI's policy rate announcements including repo and reverse repo rate cut. The Sensex closed 131.18 points down or 0.44% at 29815.59, and the broader Nifty ended up 18.80 points or 0.22% at 8660.25. 

Major gainers on the Nifty were Coal India, Axis Bank, ITC, and NTPC, while Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, and GAIL were top loser stocks. About 1131 shares advanced, 1138 shares declined, while 166 stocks remain unchanged.

In the afternoon trade, equity indices trimmed morning gains and slipped into the red even as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reduced the key repo rate by 75 basis points in line with central banks around the world to help combat the economic slowdown amid rising coronavirus (COVID-19). RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, however, also said that there is a rising probability that large parts of the global economy will slip into recession.

At 1:30 pm, the BSE Sensex was down by 481 points or 1.61 per cent to 29,466 while the Nifty 50 edged lower by 88 points or 1.02 per cent to 8,554. Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty auto down by 2.7 per cent and realty by 0.6 per cent. Nifty private bank, however, was up by 2.1 per cent and PSU bank by 1.7 per cent.

Among stocks, Bharti Airtel dipped by 5.9 per cent, Maruti by 5.5 per cent, Hero MotoCorp by 5.1 per cent and Hindalco by 3 per cent. IndusInd Bank reversed its morning upward glide and cracked by 5.1 per cent while Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv lost by 3.8 per cent and 3.3 per cent, respectively. The other prominent losers were HCL Technologies, GAIL and UltraTech Cements.But Axis Bank gained by 10.8 per cent to Rs 378.30 per share. Coal India, Cipla, UPL and NTPC traded higher between 3 and 4 per cent.

In the morning trade today, equity benchmark indices were buoyant ahead of a media briefing by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das, raising hopes of liquidity-infusing steps to absorb the economic impact of coronavirus amid a countrywide lockdown.

A day earlier, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled a Rs 1.7 lakh crore economic package and announced various welfare measures to tide through the rising pandemic.

At 10 am, the BSE Sensex was up by 940 points or 3.14 per cent to 30,887 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 341 points or 3.95 per cent to 8,983. All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the positive terrain with Nifty private bank up by 8.4 per cent, PSU bank by 8.1 per cent, financial service by 6.8 per cent and realty by 6.2 per cent.

Among stocks, IndusInd Bank continued its yesterday`s upward glide and clocked a gain of 20 per cent to Rs 523.05 per share while Axis Bank was up by 15 per cent.State Bank of India edged higher by 9 per cent, HDFC Bank by 6.7 per cent and ICICI Bank by 6 per cent. 

Meanwhile, Asian stocks rose today as investors wagered policymakers will roll out more stimulus measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic after U.S. unemployment filings surged to a record. MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3%, while Japan`s Nikkei rose 3.88%, capping its biggest weekly gain on record. Australian shares gave up gains to fall 5.3% after a strong week.

E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 reversed course and fell 0.88% following three consecutive days of gains in the S&P 500 on Wall Street.

Pan-regional Euro Stoxx 50 futures were down 0.51%, German DAX futures fell 0.61%, and FTSE futures were down 1.31%, suggesting gains in Asian shares will not carry over into Europe.

In the currency market, the greenback fell 0.94% to 108.58 yen in Asia, on pace for a 2% weekly decline. The dollar was also headed for steep weekly declines against the Swiss franc, pound, and euro.

The US currency`s fall after two weeks of gains suggests the Fed`s efforts to relieve a crunch in the dollar funding market are working, some analysts said.

The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes fell to 0.7948%, while the two-year yield edged up to 0.2809%. Yields were headed for a weekly decline, taking cues from the Fed`s extraordinary steps to bolster markets and the huge stimulus package.

US crude ticked up 1.64% to $22.97 a barrel, but Brent crude fell 0.19% to $26.29. Energy markets have been caught in a tug-of-war between falling fuel demand, hopes for stimulus spending and worries about excess oil supplies.

(With Agency Inputs)