Sensex, Nifty open in green; Bharti Airtel, Eicher Motors, UPL, Bajaj Auto major gainers

Asian shares, however, wobbled today and bonds held gains, as an emergency rate cut from the US Federal Reserve did little to soothe investor fears over the coronavirus`s widening fallout.

Image courtesy: Reuters

Equity indices on Wednesday (March 4) opened on a positive note with the Sensex up 49.06 points or 0.13% at 38672.76, while the broader Nifty also up 14.50 points or 0.13% at 11317.80. Major gainers on the Indices included Bharti Airtel, Eicher Motors, UPL, Bajaj Auto, Yes Bank, and HCL Tech, while HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, and Maruti Suzuki are among top losers. 

Except for metal, bank, and auto, the rest of other sectoral indices are trading in the green. The Sensex, however, fell as much as 115.52 points on the downside in a few minutes of trade, while the broader Nifty also slipped below 11,300. 

The Indian rupee today also opened 22 paise higher at 73.07 per dollar versus the previous close of 73.29.

Meanwhile, Asian shares wobbled today and bonds held gains, as an emergency rate cut from the US Federal Reserve did little to soothe investor fears over the coronavirus`s widening fallout.

The surprise 50 basis point cut came with commentary highlighting the limits of monetary policy, and Wall Street indexes fell sharply, gold surged and the dollar sank. The yield on benchmark 10-year US Treasuries, which falls when prices rise, hit a once-unimaginable low of 0.9060%.

In Asia, MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged 0.2% higher, after easing hopes drove gains on Tuesday. Australia`s S&P/ASX 200 index fell 1.2% and Japan`s Nikkei was either side of flat in choppy trade. E-mini futures for the S&P 500 were volatile and last traded 0.8% firmer.

The US 10-year Treasury yield drifted below Wednesday`s close to 0.9716% and the dollar pared losses after touching a five-month low against the safe-haven Japanese yen. The Dow Jones industrial average, Nasdaq composite and S&P 500 each closed down close to 3%.

More than 3,000 people have been killed by the coronavirus, about 3.4% of those infected - far above seasonal flu`s fatality rate of under 1%. It continues to spread quickly beyond the outbreak`s epicentre in China, with Italy overnight reporting a jump in deaths to 79.

Estimates of the economic cost are rising, too, since the pathogen and the lockdowns applied to try and stop it spreading have paralysed supply chains and all but frozen global travel.

S&P Global Ratings cut its US growth forecast for a second time on Tuesday and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has warned the world is headed for its worst downturn since the financial crisis more than a decade ago.

In currencies, the US dollar fell across the board, sending it to an eight-week low against a basket of currencies, while pushing the euro to an eight-week peak.

In Asian morning trade, the yen hit its highest against the greenback since October, at 106.84 per dollar, before paring gains to trade flat. The Australian dollar advanced to $0.6603.

Oil prices steadied, with Brent settling at $51.86 per barrel and US crude 0.4% firmer at $47.37 a barrel. 

Meanwhile, Gold prices, rose today after surging more than 3% in the previous session as the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates to help soften the economic blow from the coronavirus outbreak.

Spot gold climbed 0.3% to $1,644.97 an ounce by 0052 GMT, having registered its biggest one-day percentage gain since 2016 in the previous session, while the US gold futures gained 0.2% to $1,646.80.

(With Agency Inputs)