Spooked by the strong second wave of Covid-19 and its impact on India s economic recovery, the stock markets plunged in Friday s session, although, a firm global market sentiment helped contain the downside. India on Friday reported over 3 lakh cases for the second straight day, a new record for any country in the world. To control the spread, many states have imposed lockdown-like restrictions which experts worry could harm the GDP growth. According to a report by SBI, the stringent mobility curbs and lockdowns put across key Indian cities will dent the economic momentum and will result in an economic loss of Rs 1.5 trillion. Against this backdrop, SBI lowered the FY22 GDP projection to 10.4% for real GDP from earlier 11%.
After kicking off the session on a gap-down note amid a record spike of over 3 lakh Covid-19 cases in the country, Indian markets bounced back in afternoon deals, as investors resorted to low-level buying encouraged by firm global cues and drop in US bond yields. The BSE barometer Sensex ended the session at 48,081, up 375 points, mainly led by strength in the banking and financial counters. The index, meanwhile, gyrated 939 points in intra-day trade today as volatility remained high on weekly f&o expiry. Its NSE counterpart Nifty closed the session 110 points higher at 14,406. On technical front, Nifty is expected to range between 14200 and 14500 levels, and it will be crucial for the short-term market scenario to break the zone, said Ashis Biswas, Head of Technical Research at CapitalVia Global Research.
In a highly volatile trading session, the markets opened on a firm note on Tuesday as the government expanded vaccine reach to people above 18 years, but more restrictions announced by state governments dented sentiment and the benchmark indices pared all the morning gains and ended lower by 0.4-0.5 per cent. The BSE Sensex slipped 243.62 points or 0.51 per cent to close the session at 47,705.80, the lowest close since January 29. Intraday, the BSE gauge rose as much as 529 points to touch the day s peak of 48,478.34. Likewise, the Nifty climbed over 167 points to reclaim the key 14,500-level during the day, but surrendered its gains to end at 14,296.40, showing a drop of 63.05 points or 0.44 per cent. The two indices have retreated 8.7 per cent and 6.9 per cent, respectively, from record highs hit in February as surging Covid-19 cases threaten to stifle a nascent economic recovery.
NEW DELHI: Ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala cut stake in watch and jewellery maker Titan Company during March quarter in a signal that the stock may not have much upside left for the near term given the difficult business environment.
The ace investor cut his holding in the company to 3.97 per cent at March end from 4.21 per cent in December. Rekha Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, his wife, continues to hold 1.09 per cent.
As per the last closing price, Jhunjhunwala sold Rs 344 crore worth of Titan shares during the January-March period. The couple now holds about Rs 6,900 crore worth of shares of the company. Titan still remains his biggest holding at Rs 7,000 crore.
Market Watch (ETMarkets.com)
05:28 Min | April 08, 2021, 7:33 PM IST
Tune in as we discuss if Q4 earnings can lead Sensex to new highs, which sectors may show good Q4 numbers, and more!
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Welcome to ETMarkets Watch, the show about stocks, market trends and money-making ideas. I am Sabari Saran. and here are the top headlines at this hour.
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PV retail sales up 28% in March, says FADA
AstraZeneca sends legal notice to Serum