Sensex closes 222.80 points high, Nifty settles at 8992.80; NTPC, Vedanta, ICICI Bank major gainers

New Delhi: Equity benchmark indices on Thursday (April 16) ended higher with the Sensex closing up 222.80 points or 0.73% at 30602.61, and the broader Nifty was up 67.50 points or 0.76% at 8992.80. Among major gainers on the Nifty included NTPC, Vedanta, ICICI Bank and Hindalco, while the top laggards were HCL Tech,, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tech Mahindra and Hero MotoCorp. 

Except for the IT and FMCG, all other sectoral indices ended in the green today, while 1596 shares advanced, 743 shares declined and 148 remained unchanged.

The Indian rupee tanked 43 paise to settle at an all-time low of 76.87 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, amid rising concerns over coronavirus-led economic slowdown. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened weak at 76.75, and during the day lost further ground to settle at 76.87, registering a fall of 43 paise over its previous close.

During the session, the rupee moved between 76.68 and a low of 76.87 against the US dollar. The Indian unit on Wednesday, had settled at 76.44 against the greenback.

At 12.20, the Sensex was up 285.03 points or 0.94% at 30664.84, and the Nifty was also up 90.60 points or 1.02% at 9015.90. About 1295 shares advanced, 671 shares declined, while 102 stocks remained unchanged.

During early trade hours today, the BSE Sensex was down by 135 points or 0.44 per cent at 30,245 while the Nifty 50 edged lower by 20 points or 0.22 per cent at 8,905. Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty IT down by 2.96 per cent but realty up by 2 per cent. Among stocks, IT major Infosys dropped by 4.5 per cent to Rs 610.10 per share while Tech Mahindra slipped by 4.4 per cent and Tata Consultancy Services by 3 per cent.

Private lenders Kotak Mahindra Bank and Axis Bank dipped by 3.6 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively. The other major losers were Bharti Infratel, Bharti Airtel, Titan and Hero MotoCorp. However, index heavyweight Reliance Industries gained by 2.36 per cent to Rs 1,177 per share. Vedanta, UPL, Larsen & Toubro and Power Grid Corporation too traded with a positive bias.

Meanwhile, Asia`s stock markets retreated from their highest levels for a month and the dollar extended gains on Thursday as the damage the coronavirus has wrought on the world economy soured appetite for risk. Data showed US retail sales fell the most on record last month and manufacturing output fell by the most in 74 years, raising fears of a deep recession. Another sky high figure is expected when US weekly jobless claims land later in the day, according to Reuters report.

E-mini futures for the S&P 500 fell half a percent in Asia after a 2.2% drop on the index on Wednesday and European futures were marginally lower. MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost about 1%, wiping out early week gains that had taken the index to its best level since mid-March.

The risk-sensitive Australian dollar fell to a one-week low and oil prices struggled to rise against the expectation of cratering demand. 

US crude sat at $19.90 per barrel, 70 cents above an 18-year low hit on Wednesday, and Brent crude rose 28 cents or 1% in Asian trade to $27.92 per barrel. 

The International Monetary Fund is predicting zero growth in Asia this year for the first time in 60 years, as exporters are pounded by slumping demand and anti-virus measures force consumers to stay home and shops to shut down.

China is expected to report on Friday that the health crisis likely knocked its economy into its first decline on record.
In Japan, where a Reuters survey showed most firms feel stimulus measures announced so far were insufficient, the Nikkei fell 1.3%.

Benchmark indexes in Australia, Hong Kong and Shanghai also posted falls between 0.4% and 1.3% and emerging markets fell harder.

Millions more Americans likely sought unemployment benefits last week, lifting total filings for claims over the past month above an astounding 20 million. Official data is due at 1230 GMT, with a weekly figure of 5.1 million expected.

The US dollar extended its rally against the risk-sensitive Antipodean currencies, for its best two-day gains against the Australian and New Zealand dollars in a month.

It rose on the yen, euro and pound and last bought 107.94 yen and traded at $0.6273 per Aussie and $1.0875 per euro. Benchmark 10-year US Treasury yields were pinned at 0.6456%, more than 100 basis points below where they began the year.

(With Agency Inputs)