The market ended with steep losses on Friday as coronavirus cases showed no signs of abating while negative global cues further impacted sentiments. The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus worldwide surpassed 1 million on Thursday, resulting in more than 53,000 deaths so far. Active coronavirus cases in India rose to 2,088 while 56 people have died from the infection.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slipped 674.36 points or 2.39% at 27,590.95. The Nifty 50 index shed 170 points or 2.06% at 8,083.80.

Weakness in the market were led by banking stocks while pharma shares bucked weak market trend. Banks stocks slumped after Moody's Investors Service on 2 April 2020 changed the outlook for the Indian banking system to negative from stable.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index lost 1.17% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 1.03%. The decline in both these indices was lesser than the Sensex.

The market breadth favoured the buyers. On the BSE, 1140 shares rose and 1099 shares fell. A total of 179 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 19 stocks advanced while 31 stocks declined.

Economy:

IHS Markit announced Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) numbers for India yesterday, 2 April 2020. The headline seasonally adjusted IHS Markit India Manufacturing PMI fell from 54.5 in February 2020 to 51.8 in March 2020. Weighing on the headline figure was slowdown in production growth during March.

Commenting on the latest survey results, Eliot Kerr, Economist at IHS Markit, said: The Indian manufacturing sector remained relatively sheltered from the negative impact of the global coronavirus outbreak in March, however, there were pockets of disruption and a clear onset of fear amongst firms. New orders and output both grew at softer rates, but those readings were relatively tame compared to those seen at goods producers in Europe and other parts of Asia. The most prominent signs of trouble came from the new export orders and future activity indices, which respectively indicated tumbling global demand and softening domestic confidence. Should the trajectory of injections continue in the same vein, the Indian manufacturing sector can expect a much sharper negative impact in the coming months, similar to the scale seen in other countries.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Bank index fell 4.98% to 17,302.35, extending decline for second day. The index has fallen 9.62% in two sessions.

Banking stocks faced serious selling pressure as Moody's Investors Service changed the outlook for Indian banking system to negative from stable. “We have changed the outlook for the Indian banking system to negative from stable. Disruptions to economic activity from the coronavirus outbreak will exacerbate a slowdown in India's economic growth, Moody's said.

Among the private sector banks, RBL Bank (down 15.65%), Axis Bank (down 9.35%), IndusInd Bank (down 8.69%), ICICI Bank (down 7.85%), Bandhan Bank (down 7.26%), City Union Bank (down 4.13%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 3.56%), Federal Bank (down 3.03%) and HDFC Bank (down 1.87%) declined.

Among the public sector banks, Canara Bank (down 6.65%), State Bank of India (down 5.95%), Bank of Baroda (down 4.79%), Punjab National Bank (down 2.62%), Andhra Bank (down 1.42%), Punjab & Sind Bank (down 0.92%), Central Bank of India (down 0.33%), UCO Bank (down 0.33%) and Union Bank of India (down 0.17%) edged lower.

Meanwhile, ICICI Bank has announced a reduction in its savings bank account interest rate and term deposits. ICICI Bank has announced a reduction in its savings bank account interest rate with effect from 9 April 2020. For savings account balance below Rs 50 lakh, the interest rate will be reduced to 3.25% per annum (pa) from 3.5% pa and for above Rs 50 lakh it will be reduced to 3.75% pa from 4% pa. ICICI Bank also announced reduction in rates of term deposits of value Rs 2 crore by upto 50 basis points across various tenures effective April 3, 2020.

RBL Bank said that it has lost about 8% of its deposits in the March quarter and its cost of deposits also declined on a sequential basis in the same period. RBL Bank said it has strong operating profit trajectory for Q4 with Net Interest Margin (NIM) at an all-time high and comfortable liquidity position. The bank said its liquidity ratio stood at approximately 127% for March 2020 and its cost of deposits and cost of funds are lower on a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis. The private lender witnessed some run-offs of deposits in this quarter (under 8%), since the last quarter. The deposit reduction was essentially in bulk deposits from government entities/corporations, while the banks retail deposits remained stable.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Hero MotoCorp lost 3.23% to Rs 1586.15. The two-wheeler maker said its total two-wheeler sales stood at 334,647 units in March 2020, down 42.43% from 581,279 units in March 2019.

Cipla surged 8.57% to Rs 449. The drug maker announced the successful completion of Phase-3 clinical end-point study for fluticasone propionate and salmeterol inhalation powder (100/50 mcg).

Bajaj Auto slipped 1.55% to Rs 2020. The company reported 38% slide in total sales (commercial vehicles+two-wheelers) to 2.42 lakh units in March 2020 as against 3.93 lakh units in March 2019. Bajaj Auto registered a 35% fall in the two-wheeler sales to 2.10 lakh units in March 2020 over 3.23 lakh units in March 2019. Sale of commercial vehicles slumped 55% to 31,599 units in March 2020 as compared to 69,813 units in March 2019.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone shed 0.14% to Rs 244.55. The company said it recorded 7% cargo volume growth to 223 MMT in FY20 over FY19. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone for the twelve-month period ended 31 March 2020 achieved a throughput of 223 MMT across its nine operating ports in India thus registering seven percent cargo volume growth on year on year basis, the company said in a statement on Thursday, 2 April 2020.

Tata Motors fell 3.61% to Rs 65.50 after the company announced that its sales in the domestic & international market in March 2020, stood at 12,924 units, down 82.69% compared with 74,679 units during March 2019. Total commercial vehicle sales slumped 87% to 7,123 units, while total passenger vehicle sales slipped 68% to 5,676 units in March 2020 over March 2019.

Meanwhile, Tata Motors informed that S&P Global Ratings has downgraded company's Long Term Issuer Credit Rating from B+/Negative to B/Stable. The credit rating agency has also downgraded Jaguar Land Rover Automotive's Long Term Issuer Credit Rating from B+/Negative to B/Negative. The rating agency said downgrade of company's credit rating is on the back of weaker than expected Credit Matrix owing to the disruptions and economic impact from the COVID-19 outbreak.

Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) tumbled 10.31% to Rs 63.10. JSPL on Friday (3 April 2020) said it registered a 10% jump in consolidated sales to 7.92 metric tonnes (MT) in FY 2019-20 over 7.22 metric tonnes (MT) in FY 2018-19. Consolidated production grew 12% to 8.17 metric tonnes (MT) in FY 2019-20 over 7.30 metric tonnes (MT) in FY 2018-19. Domestic sales grew 12% to 6.04 metric tonnes (MT) in FY 2019-20 from 5.41 metric tonnes (MT) in FY 2018-19. Domestic steel production jumped 13% to 6.30 metric tonnes (MT) in FY 2019-20 as against 5.59 metric tonnes (MT) in FY 2018-19.

Eicher Motors fell 2.93% to Rs 12620. The company on Wednesday, 1 April 2020, said its total two-wheeler (Royal Enfield) sales declined 41% to 35,814 units in March 2020 as against 60,831 units in March 2019. On a month-on-month basis, total Royal Enfield sales declined 43.63% in March 2020 from 63,536 units in February 2020. Total two-wheeler exports jumped 33% to 3,184 units in March 2020 compared with 2,397 units in March 2019.

TVS Motor Company crashed 9.34% to Rs 252 after the company on Thursday (2 April 2020) said its total sales fell 55.50% to 144,739 units in March 2020 as against 325,323 units in March 2019. The total sales are down by 42.85% in March 2020 compared with 253,261 units in February 2020. Total two-wheelers sales fell 56.90% to 133,988 units in March 2020 as against 310,885 units in March 2019. Domestic two-wheeler sales slumped 62% to 94,103 units in March 2020 as against sales of 247,694 units in March 2019. Three-wheeler sales declined 25.54% to 10,751 units in March 2020 from 14,438 units registered in March 2019. Total exports fell by 34.30% to 50,197 units in March 2020 from 76,405 units in March 2019. Two-wheeler exports contracted by 36.88% to 39,885 units in March 2020 as against 63,191 units in March 2019.

Global Markets:

European and Asian shares fell across the board on Friday. An overnight surge in oil prices, which saw US crude futures soaring more than 24% failed to cheer Asian markets.

On the economic data front, a private survey released Friday showed China's services sector shrank further in March. The Caixin/Markit services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for March was at 43 following a record low of 26.5 in February. PMI readings below 50 indicate contraction, while figures above that level signify an expansion.

The headline IHS Markit composite PMI for the euro zone collapsed from 51.6 in February to an all-time low of 29.7 in March.

US stocks on Thursday finished near the highs of the session, as investors appeared to focus on hope that a détente between some of the biggest oil producers on the planet might be achieved to substantially curb oil production and stabilize battered prices.

US President Donald Trump reportedly tweeted that he had been in contact with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and that he expected the Saudis and Russia to cut production of 10 million to 15 million barrels a day.

Meanwhile, the US trade deficit narrowed to $39.9 billion in February from $45.5 billion in January.

The US Labour Department said Thursday that initial jobless claims surged to more than 6 million last week, reaching a new record as Coronavirus-related shutdowns roll through the country.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tanked 1203.18 points or 4.08% at 28,265.31. The Nifty 50 index tumbled 334.15 points or 3.89% at 8,263.60.

Rising coronavirus numbers across the globe exerted downside pressure on equities. Globally, there have been over 859,700 confirmed cases of COVID-19. At least 42,340 people have died so far while 178,333 have recovered. The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in India stands at 1,590.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 2.18% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 1.06%.

The market breadth was slightly titled in the favour of the buyers. On the BSE, 1124 shares rose and 1081 shares fell. A total of 171 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, the breadth was weak with 4 stocks advancing and 46 stocks declining.

Domestic stock market will remain closed on Thursday (2 April 2020) on account of Ram Navmi.

Economy:

The government's fiscal deficit touched 135.2% of the full-year target at February-end, according to an official data released on Tuesday. In actual terms, the fiscal deficit or the gap between expenditure and revenue was Rs 10,36,485 crore, the data by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) showed.

The output of Eight Core Industries, carrying 40.27% weight in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), increased by 5.5% in February 2020 while output increased 1% in April to February 2019-20.

Meanwhile, the interest rate on small savings scheme has been cut. The Public Provident Fund will now offer 7.1%, after an 80 basis points cut in its interest rate. The interest rate on National Savings Certificate has been slashed by 110 bps to 6.8%. The interest rate on Kisan Vikas Patra has also been cut by 70 bps to 6.9%.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Private Bank index fell 5.38% to 9,626.20, resuming decline after a day's breather. The index rose 0.84% to end at 10,173.70 on Tuesday.

Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 8.9%), City Union Bank (down 7.87%), Axis Bank (down 5.75%), Bandhan Bank (down 4.3%), ICICI Bank (down 4.08%), HDFC Bank (down 3.7%), RBL Bank (down 3.43%) and IndusInd Bank (down 2.59%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Maruti Suzuki India slipped 1.46% to Rs 4225. The company's total sales tumbled 47% to 83,792 units in March 2020 from 158,076 units in March 2019. On a month-on-month (M-o-M) basis, total sales tanked 43.04% to 83,792 units in March 2020 from 147,110 units in February 2020.

Hero MotoCorp rose 2.57% to Rs 1635.25. The two-wheeler maker informed that members of the promoter and promoter group bought 2.76 lakh shares (0.14% of capital) of the company. With the purchase of these shares, the promoter and promoter group shareholding in the company increased from 34.63% to 34.77%.

Escorts slumped 10.06% to Rs 596.25. The company's Agri Machinery Segment (EAM) in March 2020 sold a total of 5,444 tractors, registering a decline of 54.3% against 11,905 tractors sold in March 2019. On a sequential basis, total sales tumbled 36.8% from 8,601 units recorded in February 2020.

Ashok Leyland declined 4.53% to Rs 41.10 after the company reported a 90% decline in total sales at 2,179 units for March 2020, as against 21,535 units in the same month last year. On a month-on-month (M-o-M) basis, total sales tanked 81.01% in March 2020 from 11,475 units in February 2020.

Eicher Motors slipped 0.83% to Rs 12978.85 after unlisted subsidiary VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV) reported 82.7% decline in total sales to 1,499 units in March 2020 from 8,676 units in March 2019. On a month-on-month basis, VECV's total sales declined 67.31% in March 2020 from 4586 units in February 2020.

Mahindra & Mahindra tumbled 4.51% to Rs 272.15. M&M's total sales slumped 88% to 7401 units in March 2020 as compared to 62952 units in March 2019. While the total domestic sales are down by 90% to 6130 units, total exports shrunk by 68% to 1271 units in March 2020 over March 2019.

M&M's Farm Equipment Sector's total sales fell 31% to 13613 units in March 2020 from 19688 units in March 2019. The company's domestic tractor sales declined by 27% to 13418 units while its exports crashed 84% to 195 units in March 2020 over March 2019.

Sterling and Wilson Solar (SWSL) hit an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 80.70. The company said that it has received additional Rs 500 crore against loans outstanding from Sterling and Wilson and its subsidiary Sterling and Wilson International FZE, which was facilitated by Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Private and Khurshed Daruvala (promoters), as per the revised schedule of repayment approved by the board of directors of SWSL and communicated to the stock exchanges earlier. The proceeds have been utilized to reduce our external borrowings by an equivalent amount, the company said in a statement. An amount of Rs 1,000 crore had already been repaid from the date of listing till 31 December 2019. With this the total repayment stands at Rs 1,500 crore (inclusive of principal and interest).

GM Breweries jumped 6.41% to Rs 328.90. The company has received a license to manufacture hand sanitisers from Food & Drugs Administration (FDA), (Maharashtra State, Thane) which is valid from 31 March to 30 June 2020. The company said the commercial production of hand sanitizers will commence shortly.

Coal India shed 0.32% to Rs 139.55. The coal miner said that its total provisional coal production in March 2020 stood at 84.36 million tonnes as compared to 79.19 million tonnes in March 2019, registering a 6.5% rise. Provisional coal offtake dropped 10.3% to 53.45 million tonnes in March 2020 as against 59.60 million in March 2019.

NMDC declined 2.13% to Rs 78.30. NMDC's total iron ore production in March 2020 was 2.76 million tonnes as against 4.04 million tonnes in March 2019, recording a fall of 31.68%. On a sequential basis, NMDC reported 14.81% fall in iron ore production from 3.24 million tonne reported in February 2020. Total iron ore sales declined 24.58% to 2.70 million tonnes in March 2020 as against 3.58 million tonnes in March 2019. On a sequential basis, total sales declined 7.22% in March 2020 as against February 2020.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia fell across the board on Wednesday following the negative cues overnight from Wall Street amid lingering concerns about the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

In US, stocks ended lower on Tuesday as concerns remain over the spread of COVID-19 in the US and Europe in particular, with economic activity under lockdown amid a rising tally of infections and a mounting death toll.

In his latest appearance on Tuesday evening, early Wednesday in Asia, US President Donald Trump issues guidelines for 30-day social distancing while citing fears of a surge in the virus cases during the upcoming two weeks.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, surged 1028.17 points or 3.62% at 29,468.49. The Nifty 50 index spurted 316.65 points 3.82% at 8,597.75.

Domestic shares mirrored gains in other global stock markets after data showed that manufacturing activity in China rebounded from record lows in March. Stocks also drew support from signs that the lockdown across much of Europe could be starting to have the desired effect of slowing the rate of new confirmed cases.

BPCL (up 13.56%), Gail India (up 8.63%), ONGC (up 7.34%), UPL (up 6.99%) and Hindalco Industries (up 6.87%) were the top gainers.

Eicher Motors (down 2.70%), Cipla (down 2.18%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (down 1.51%), Bajaj Finserv (down 1.31%) and Bajaj Finance (down 1.24%) were major losers.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index advanced 2.49% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 2.98%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1438 shares rose and 752 shares fell. A total of 162 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 44 stocks advanced while 6 stocks declined.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index rose 5.18% to 1,585.75, reversing Monday's 3.03% decline.

Among the index constituents, Steel Authority of India (up 13.76%), Hindalco Industries (up 8.79%), Hindustan Zinc (up 6.29%), Tata Steel (up 6.28%), Hindustan Copper (up 5.94%), NMDC (up 3.9%), National Aluminium Company (up 3.74%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 2.5%) and JSW Steel (up 2.42%) advanced.

Vedanta jumped 5.11%. The company said its mining operations, which manufacture essential commodities, and the oil & gas business will continue across all sites during the lockdown imposed by the Centre to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Stocks in Spotlight:

IndusInd Bank crashed 14.62% to Rs 351.40. The bank in a conference call hosted yesterday informed that it has seen a withdrawal of 10-11% of its deposits, largely led by a state government. Wholesale and retail deposits too saw a decline. The lender said it has replaced the outflows via various means such as long duration refinance/forex borrowings swapped to the Indian Rupee. The lender also said that the moratorium granted by the RBI should help its portfolio in various segments.

Reliance Industries (RIL) advanced 7.65% to Rs 1111.30. The company said its board will meet on 2 April 2020 to consider raising funds by issuing listed, secured/unsecured, redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on private placement basis in one or more tranches/series.

Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals surged 9.55% to Rs 114.15. GNFC said that considering the prevailing unprecedented critical situation caused by the Corona Virus (COVID-19) pandemic / epidemic and prevailing nationwide lockdown situation, the operations of nine plants of the company situated at Bharuch complex are under complete shutdown.

Britannia Industries gained 8.35% at Rs 2681.10 amid bargain hunting after a recent slide. The FMCG company informed that in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company has taken various measures (including work from home) to ensure safety and well-being of all the employees and is ensuring compliance with the directives issued by the central government, state government and local administration in this regard. The company manufactures food products which are considered as essential commodities for the consumers. However, due to lock down ordered by the Government of India across the country to contain the spread of COVID-19, the operations of the company have also been disrupted.

Aster DM Healthcare gained 2.38% to Rs 94.70 after the company announced the closure of its loss making pharmacies in Kuwait. The company said that it intends to exit from the Kuwait market by shutting down the loss making operations of the pharmacies. The drug maker expects to close all Kuwait operations by 31 May 2020. The company said it has been operating pharmacies in Kuwait through its subsidiary, Aster Kuwait Pharmaceuticals and Medical Equipment Company W.L.L (the subsidiary). As on 31 March 2020, the company's subsidiary contributed Rs 33.26 crore or 0.42% towards Aster DM Healthcare's consolidated revenues. The business had a negative net-worth of Rs 26.58 crore.

G.G. Engineering hit 5% upper circuit at Rs 30.90. The manufacturer of electric power generators said that the company has obtained order for supply of supply, installation, operation and maintenance of 25 Plastic Bottle Crushing Machine' with advertisement right for 5 years at various Location of 16 stations over Mumbai divisions from the Western Railway, Mumbai Central for the disposal of plastics in an efficient way.

Global Markets:

European shares were trading higher while most Asian stocks advanced on Tuesday as China's official manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for March came in better than expected.

China's official manufacturing PMI bounced to 52 in March, up from a record-low 35.7 in February.

In US, stocks surged on Monday, rebounding from a deep rout triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. The rebound was led by an 8% pop in Johnson & Johnson after it announced a vaccine candidate for the coronavirus.

US President Donald Trump extended the timeline for social distancing guidelines to April 30, which many believe will reduce economic damage in the long run.

Bajaj Finance (down 11.89%), HDFC (down 10.83%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 8.37%), HDFC Bank (down 8.12%) and Tata Steel (down 8.03%) tumbled.

Cipla (up 6.71%), Tech Mahindra (up 4.74%), Nestle India (up 3.78%), Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (up 2.52%) and Axis Bank (up 2.35%) advanced.

The broader market was under pressure. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 2.13% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 1.75%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 939 shares rose and 1343 shares fell. A total of 171 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 12 stocks advanced while 38 stocks declined.

Investors were concerned about the rising number of COVID-19 cases and the economic fallout of the worldwide lockdowns. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Kristalina Georgieva on Friday (27 March) said the world has clearly entered a recession. The COVID-19 pandemic has driven the global economy into a downturn that will require massive funding to help developing nations, she added. Total Covid-19 infections worldwide surpassed 700,000 with more than 34,000 deaths.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Bank index slipped 5.88% to Rs 18794.05 amid profit booking after a recent rally. The index added 18.04% in four sessions to end at 19,969 on Friday.

Among the public sector banks, Indian Bank (down 5.75%), State Bank of India (down 4.59%), Bank of Baroda (down 3.86%), Canara Bank (down 3.77%), IDBI Bank (down 3.55%), Union Bank of India (down 2.92%), Central Bank of India (down 2.82%), Bank of India (down 2.7%), Punjab National Bank (down 1.64%), UCO Bank (down 1.64%) and Andhra Bank (down 1.42%) edged lower.

Among the private banks, Bandhan Bank (down 12.19%), Federal Bank (down 8.1%), HDFC Bank (down 8.08%), ICICI Bank (down 7.44%), City Union Bank (down 7.16%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 7.15%), RBL Bank (down 5.77%) and Yes Bank (down 5.3%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries fell 1.82% to Rs 332. The company informed that the company received a communication from the USFDA indicating that the Halol facility has been classified as “Official Action Indicated” (OAI). The OAI classification implies interalia that the USFDA may withhold approval of any pending product applications or supplements filed from this facility till the outstanding observations are resolved. The company continues to manufacture and distribute existing products for the US market, thereby not likely to have any adverse impact on current business from the facility.

IndusInd Bank added 0.41% to Rs 412.70. CRISIL on 27 March 2020 reaffirmed the credit ratings on the fixed deposits/certificates of deposits/debt instruments of the bank.

Hero MotoCorp slumped 5.49% to Rs 1568.95. The company said the operations at its Indian plants will continue to remain suspended beyond 31 March 2020 until 14 April 2020.

Abbott India surged 8.97% to Rs 15400. US-based Abbott on Friday, 27 March 2020, announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has issued Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the fastest available molecular point-of-care test for the detection of novel coronavirus (COVID-19), delivering positive results in as little as five minutes and negative results in 13 minutes.

Tata Power Company fell 3.98% to Rs 32.60. The company said Adjaristsqali Georgia LLC (AGL), a Joint Venture (JV) between Tata Power, Norway's Clean Energy Invest (CEI) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) announced the start of commercial operation of the 178 MW Shuakhevi Hydro Power Project (Shuakhevi HPP) located in southwest Georgia.

Godfrey Phillips India shed 1.44% to Rs 908.90 after the company said it has suspended operations at all its factories and plant locations in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. The impact on the operations of the company cannot be assessed at this point, it added. The statement was issued before trading hours today, 30 March 2020.

Motherson Sumi Systems tumbled 4.19% to Rs 60.55 after Moody's Investors Service assigned a Ba1 corporate family rating (CFR) to the company and has withdrawn the company's Baa3 issuer rating. At the same time, Moody's has placed the Ba1 CFR under review for further downgrade. The outlook has been revised to rating under review from negative.

Delta Corp was locked in upper circuit of 4.96%. The company's board approved a proposal to buyback shares worth up to Rs 125 crore at a price not exceeding Rs 100 per share. The company said it will utilise at least 50% of the amount earmarked as the maximum buyback size for the buyback. Based on the minimum buyback size and maximum buy-back price, the company would purchase a minimum of 62.50 lakh equity shares.

Global Markets:

European and Asian stocks fell across the board on Monday on weak risk appetite as the death toll from coronavirus pandemic surged, threatening the global economy as roughly one-third of the planet is on lockdown.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday extended the national social distancing guidelines to April 30, walking back his previous remarks that he wanted the country to reopen for business by Easter.

Meanwhile in Europe, the number of deaths from coronavirus in Italy fell for the second consecutive day on Sunday. A national lockdown looks certain to continue beyond April 3.

In US, stock indexes ended sharply lower on Friday, failing to get a lasting lift from approval by Congress of a $2 trillion economic stimulus package to counter the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, but equities booked double-digit weekly gains to take back a chunk of losses seen this month

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slipped 131.18 points or 0.44% at 29,815.59. The Nifty 50 index added 18.80 points or 0.22% at 8,660.25.

Coal India (up 6.41%), Axis Bank (up 6.18%), Cipla (up 6.05%), ITC (up 4.38%) and UPL (up 3.84%) were top gainers.

Bajaj Finance (down 7.94%), Hero MotoCorp (down 7.88%), IndusInd Bank (down 5.68%), Gail (down 4.58%) and Maruti Suzuki (down 4.57%) were major losers.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index lost 0.29% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.28%.

The market breadth was almost even. On the BSE, 1153 shares rose and 1155 shares fell. A total of 173 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 23 stocks advanced while 26 stocks declined. 1 stock remained unchanged.

RBI Action:

On the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic situation, the Reserve bank of India (RBI)'s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) at its meeting today (27 March 2020) decided to reduce the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 75 basis points to 4.40% from 5.15% with immediate effect. Accordingly, the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate stand reduced to 4.65% from 5.40%. Further, consequent upon the widening of the LAF corridor as detailed in the accompanying Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Polices, the reverse repo rate under the LAF stands reduced by 90 basis points to 4%. The MPC also decided to continue with the accommodative stance as long as it is necessary to revive growth and mitigate the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) on the economy, while ensuring that inflation remains within the target.

RBI reduced the cash reserve ratio (CRR) of all banks by 100 basis points to 3% of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) with effect from the reporting fortnight beginning 28 March 2020. This reduction in the CRR would release primary liquidity of about Rs 1,37,000 crore uniformly across the banking system in proportion to liabilities of constituents rather than in relation to holdings of excess SLR. This dispensation will be available for a period of one year ending on 26 March 2021.

Under the marginal standing facility (MSF), banks can borrow overnight at their discretion by dipping up to 2% into the Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR). To provide comfort to the banking system, RBI increased the limit of 2% to 3% with immediate effect.

In order to mitigate their adverse effects on economic activity leading to pressures on cash flows, RBI will conduct auctions of targeted term repos of up to three years tenor of appropriate sizes for a total amount of up to Rs 1,00,000 crore at a floating rate linked to the policy repo rate.

RBI permitted all commercial banks, co-operative banks, all-India financial institutions and NBFCs to allow a moratorium of three months on payment of installments in respect of all term loans outstanding as on 1 March 2020. Accordingly, the repayment schedule and all subsequent due dates, as also the tenor for such loans, may be shifted across the board by three months.

In respect of working capital facilities sanctioned in the form of cash credit/overdraft, lending institutions are being permitted to allow a deferment of three months on payment of interest in respect of all such facilities outstanding as on 1 March 2020. The accumulated interest for the period will be paid after the expiry of the deferment period.

RBI said the global economic activity has come to a near standstill as COVID-19 related lockdowns and social distancing are imposed across a widening swathe of affected countries. Expectations of a shallow recovery in 2020 from 2019's decade low in global growth have been dashed. The outlook is now heavily contingent upon the intensity, spread and duration of the pandemic. There is a rising probability that large parts of the global economy will slip into recession.

RBI added that GDP growth of 4.7% for Q4:2019-20 within the annual estimate of 5% for the year as a whole, is now at risk from the pandemic's impact on the economy. High frequency indicators suggest that private final consumption expenditure has been hit hardest, even as gross fixed capital formation has been in contraction since Q2:2019-20. On the supply side, the outlook for agriculture and allied activities appears to be the only silver lining, with food grains output at 292 million tonnes being 2.4% higher than a year ago. A pick-up in manufacturing and electricity generation pulled industrial production into positive territory in January 2020 after intermittent contraction and/or lacklustre activity over the past five months; however, more data will need to be watched to assess whether the recent uptick will endure in the face of COVID-19.

As a consequence of COVID-19, aggregate demand may weaken and ease core inflation further. Heightened volatility in financial markets could also have a bearing on inflation, it added. Apart from the continuing resilience of agriculture and allied activities, most other sectors of the economy will be adversely impacted by the pandemic. If COVID-19 is prolonged and supply chain disruptions get accentuated, the global slowdown could deepen, with adverse implications for India. Upside growth impulses are expected to emanate from monetary, fiscal and other policy measures and the early containment of COVID-19.

The MPC is of the view that macroeconomic risks, both on the demand and supply sides, brought on by the pandemic could be severe. The need of the hour is to do whatever is necessary to shield the domestic economy from the pandemic.

The RBI measures came after Moody's Investors Service slashed India's growth rate for calendar year 2020 to 2.5% from an earlier estimate of 5.3%. The deep cut in growth estimate is due to rising economic cost of the coronavirus pandemic.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index fell 2.46% to 4,938.65, declining the most among the other sectoral indices on the NSE.

Hero MotoCorp (down 8.07%), TVS Motor Company (down 6.77%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 5.09%), Eicher Motors (down 3.57%), Bajaj Auto (down 2.96%), Escorts (down 2.18%), Ashok Leyland (down 1.62%) declined.

Tata Motors was down 0.64%. The board of Tata Motors approved plan to subsidiarize the firm's Passenger Vehicles (PV) including Electric Vehicles (EV) business into a separate subsidiary through a scheme of arrangement. The company said that this shall help provide differentiated focus for the PV and CV businesses and help each of them realise their potential. It added that this decision is a first step in its plans to secure mutually beneficial strategic alliances for the domestic PV business and help secure its long-term viability.

Stocks in Spotlight:

NTPC rose 3.11% to Rs 83. The company said that it had signed a share-purchase agreement with the central government to acquire North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) for Rs 4,000 crore and THDC India (THDCIL) for Rs 7,500 crore. The acquisitions are subject to regulatory approvals.

ICICI Bank rose 2.68% to Rs 340.90. The private lender has entered into an agreement to invest in Auxilo Finserve (previously known as Stellenyak General Finance) by acquiring 9.9% stake, or 34.1 million equity shares for Rs 51.1 crore.

Piramal Enterprises surged 3.90% to Rs 851.10 after CARE Ratings affirmed CARE AA (outlook stable) credit rating for the additional non-convertible debentures issuance of up to Rs 1,000 crore by the company.

Phoenix Mills slipped 0.99% to Rs 569.70. The credit rating agency CRISIL placed its rating on the long-term bank facilities of Phoenix Mills on 'Rating Watch with Negative Implications'.

Sanghvi Movers hit a lower circuit of 5% at Rs 50.95. The company informed that ICRA had retained the long-term rating at [ICRA]A- and short-term rating at [ICRA]A2+. The outlook on the long-term rating has been revised to 'negative' from 'stable'.

HDFC Life Insurance Company slumped 7.65% to Rs 440.80 after the media reported that promoter Standard Life will sell up to 5 crore shares or 2.5% equity stake in the company. As on 31 December 2019, Standard Life (Mauritius Holdings) 2006 held 14.73% stake while Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) held 51.45% stake in HDFC Life Insurance Company.

Yes Bank slipped 0.94% to Rs 26.40. The bank said its board has approved raising funds amounting to Rs 5,000 crore, in addition to Rs 10,000 crore cleared in January, through issuance of securities. The board of the bank has also been reconstituted.

Aurobindo Pharma rose 8.92% to Rs 393.65. The drug maker said with regard to the USFDA inspection of Unit VIII, API manufacturing facility at Gaddapotharam, Hyderabad, the company has received the Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) with Voluntary Action Initiated (VAl) status from USFDA.

Global Markets:

European shares tumbled while most Asian markets rose on Friday as uncertainty over the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak continues to weigh on investor sentiment.

On the economic data front, China's industrial profits for January-February plunged 38.3% year-on-year, according to the country's National Bureau of Statistics. The period covered by the data release coincided with lockdowns announced by the Chinese government to combat the spread of the coronavirus in the country, where the disease was first reported.

A surge in reported infections in recent days has made the US the country with the largest number of confirmed coronavirus cases. Globally, more than 542,000 have been infected while at least 24,300 lives have been taken.

Meanwhile, the number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits surged to a record of more than 3 million last week as strict measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic ground the country to a sudden halt.

Meanwhile, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reportedly said on Thursday that the central bank will not run out of ammunition to keep the economy stable.

In US, stocks roared higher on Thursday, closing up for the third day in a row despite a report from the Labor Department that showed unemployment claims soared to a record 3.28 million last week, as the coronavirus pandemic shut down businesses across the nation.

Investors took some comfort from the overnight passage of a historic $2 trillion economic stimulus bill by the Senate, putting it one step closer to being signed into law to mitigate the economic fallout from the outbreak

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, jumped 1410.99 points or 4.94% at 29,946.77, as per provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index was up 335.70 points or 4.04% at 8,653.55.

In the Nifty, IndusInd Bank (up 46.03%), L&T (up 10%), Bajaj Finance (up 9.27%), Bharti Airtel (up 8.37%) and Hero MotoCorp (up 7.04%) were among major gainers. While, GAIL (down 3.31%), HCL Technologies (down 2.60%), Sun Pharma (down 2.55%), Tata Steel (down 2%) and Tech Mahindra (down 1.29%), declined.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 3.70% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 3.82%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1508 shares rose and 770 shares fell. A total of 171 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 39 stocks advanced while 11 stocks declined.

FM Media Briefing Highlights:

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that a package worth Rs 1.7 lakh crore is ready for the poor who need immediate help like migrant workers and urban and rural poor.

FM announced Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Ann Yojna (for next 3 months) in which 80 crore poor people (2/3rd of India's population) are covered. In addition to already allotted 5 kg of rice/wheat per person, an additional 5 kg will be allotted free. Additional 1 kg pulse (according to regional preference) will be given.

FM added that 8.69 crore farmers will be immediately benefited through direct cash transfers. Installment of Rs 2,000 in the first week of April will be transferred, FM added.

For old age, divyang, pensioners (3 crore people covered), one-time amount of additional Rs 1000 in two installments through direct bank transfer (DBT) (hence no middlemen) over 3 months will be given.

FM announced an increase of Rs 2000 per worker on average as additional income in MGNREGA (5 crore families benefited).

FM said 20 crore women Jan Dhan Yojana account holders will get Rs 500 per month for the next three months.

The government will provide free LPG cylinders to woman beneficiaries of Ujjwala scheme. This will benefit 8.3 crore below poverty line (BPL) families.

FM also announced a Rs 50 lakh insurance per healthcare worker as a medical insurance cover for them for three months.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty FMCG index jumped 5.03% to 25,703.35, extending gains for third day. The index has added 10.87% in the past three sessions.

Jyothy Laboratories (up 12.65%), Godrej Consumer Products (up 8.53%), Marico (up 8.51%), Britannia Industries (up 7.67%), Hindustan Unilever (up 7.42%), Dabur India (up 5.91%), GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (up 5.54%), Colgate Palmolive (India) (up 4.44%), Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care (up 4.05%), Bajaj Consumer Care (up 3.64%), Nestle India (up 3.24%) and Tata Global Beverages (up 3.02%) advanced.

FMCG stocks were in demand as direct cash transfer by the government could boost FMCG sales in rural India.

Stocks in Spotlight :

Cipla rose 2.11% to Rs 384.65 after the company said it received US drug regulator's final approval for generic version of AstraZeneca Pharmaceutical's Nexium. Nexium is a proton pump inhibitor indicated for treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), reducing risk of NSAID-associated gastric ulcer, eradication of helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) bacteria to reduce the risk of duodenal ulcer recurrence and for pathological hypersecretory conditions, including Zollinger-Ellison syndrome.

JSW Steel slipped 0.83% to Rs 149.65. The company announced after trading hours yesterday, 25 March 2020, that the manufacturing operations in all the locations have been either scaled down or suspended (in certain locations). Consequently, the capacity utilisation is expected to go down significantly during this period of lockdown. The decision to scale down/suspend production is done to support the cause of containment of the pandemic COVID-19, notwithstanding the exception to manufacturing units with continuous operation and the units producing essential commodities (steel is classified as an essential commodity under the Essential Services Maintenance Act, 1981 (ESMA)), the exchange filing added.

NTPC fell 0.38% to Rs 79.40. The company informed that second Unit of 660 MW of Khargone Super Thermal Power Project has been added to Installed Capacity of NTPC on successful completion of trial operation. With this, the total installed capacity of Khargone Super Thermal Power Project, NTPC and NTPC group has become 1320 MW, 50355 MW and 58816 MW respectively.

Strides Pharma Science fell 1.94% to Rs 313.45. The company's flagship facility, KRS Gardens in Bangalore, Karnataka which was inspected by the United States Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) in March 2020, has received the Establishment Inspection Report (EIR), thereby confirming the successful closure of the inspections.

REC rose 4.25% to Rs 87.10 after the company said its board has approved a proposal to revise upward its borrowing for the current financial year to Rs 94,000 crore from the Rs 90,000 crore estimated earlier. Besides, the board has also approved an Rs 1.10 lakh crore market borrowing by the company during the next financial year 2020-21, the company said in an exchange filing made after market hours yesterday. The board also approved the launch of capital gains tax exemption bonds (Series XIV) under Section 54EC of the Income Tax Act, 1961, for raising funds on a private placement basis for an amount of Rs 2,500 crore with a green shoe option to retain oversubscription.

Vinati Organics surged 12.62% to Rs 780.10. The chemical maker has shut down its manufacturing operations at two Maharashtra-based plants due to outbreak of Corona Virus.

Caplin Point Laboratories hit 20% upper circuit at Rs 244.60 after the company said it received final approval from the US drug regulator for Verapamil Hydrochloride injection. Verapamil Hydrochloride is a calcium channel blocker used in the treatment of cardiac conditions such as high blood pressure, arrhythmias and angina. According to IQVIA (IMS Health), Verapamil Hydrochloride injection USP had US sales data of approximately $28 million for the 12-month period ending December 2019.

Blue Star fell 3.23% to Rs 512.55 after the company said it has temporarily suspended its operations at its various offices and manufacturing plants. The company said it has temporarily suspended its operations at its various offices and manufacturing plants. Most of the office based staff are working from home and are available over their mobile phones and e-mail. Customers, channel partners and vendors are being kept informed, the company said.

InterGlobe Aviation fell 1.96% to Rs 991.60 after the company on Wednesday said that the restrictions on the operation of international and domestic flights are likely to continue till 14 April 2020. The National lockdown announced by the Government of India with effect from 12:00 am on 25 March 2020 until 14 April 2020, it is likely that these restrictions on the operation of the company's international and domestic flights will continue until 14 April 2020.

India Cements soared 7.46% to Rs 103 after Mumbai-based billionaire Radhakishan Damani purchased 16 lakh shares for Rs 94.97 each via bulk deal on BSE yesterday, 25 March 2020.

LT foods jumped 6.73% to Rs 16.65 after it informed that CRISIL had reaffirmed the company long term rating at 'CRISIL A-' and the short term rating at 'CRISIL A2+', while revising the outlook on the long term bank loan facilities to 'stable'. Offering the rating rationale, the ratings agency said that the ratings continue to reflect the LT group's strong market position in the basmati rice industry, resulting in sales growth and stable profitability.

Global Markets:

European markets extended losses while most Asian markets ended in the red on Thursday as investors awaited the passage and details of a $2 trillion stimulus package in the United States to combat the economic fallout from the coronavirus.

Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry said Thursday that the Singapore economy is now expected to shrink by between 1.0% and 4.0% this year. Official preliminary data showed Singapore's economy contracting 2.2% in the first quarter from a year ago.

Investors were cautious ahead of the latest US jobless claims data that's expected to show a massive spike in unemployment claims after businesses stateside closed their doors to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

In Europe, EU leaders will hold a virtual summit to discuss their response to the coronavirus outbreak amid some criticisms of a lack of coordinated response to the crisis. Italy and Spain are the worst-hit countries in Europe, with the death toll in each country surpassing 7,000 and 3,500 respectively. The death toll in the US has now surpassed 1,000.

In US, stocks on Wednesday finished well off their highs and the Nasdaq turned negative in the final minutes of trade, as the passage of a $2 trillion economic rescue package appeared to hit a snag. The Senate unanimously approved the trillion dollar economic relief package late Wednesday and the stimulus bill now heads to the House, which will push to pass it by voice vote Friday morning as most representatives are out of Washington.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, surged 1861.75 points or 6.98% at 28,535.78. The Nifty 50 index jumped 496.75 points or 6.37% at 8,297.80.

The broader market bounced. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 3.53% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 2.84%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1207 shares rose and 994 shares fell. A total of 155 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, the breadth was positive with 38 stocks advancing and 11 stocks declining. 1 stock remained unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Bank jumped 7.88% to 18,455.25, extending its winning run to second day in a row. The Nifty Bank index has gained 9.09% in last two trading sessions from its previous closing low of 16917.65 posted on 23 March 2020. The index has slumped 43.41% from its record high of 32613.10 hit on 30 December 2019.Bank of Baroda (up 6.14%), Canara Bank (up 3.46%), State Bank of India (up 3.38%), United Bank of India (up 1.56%), Punjab & Sind Bank (up 1.41%), Central Bank of India (up 1.31%), Indian Bank (up 0.92%), Bank of India (up 0.79%) and Allahabad Bank (up 0.13%) edged higher.

Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 12.37%), HDFC Bank (up 11.98%), Axis Bank (up 7.22%), ICICI Bank (up 6.12%), City Union Bank (up 3.38%), RBL Bank (up 3.23%), Federal Bank (up 1.06%) advanced.

The Nifty Bank index made a strong comeback after correcting sharply in past one month. Investor and traders turned bullish on banking stocks after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman indicated that her ministry was readying an economic package to help the industry deal with the coronavirus crisis.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Reliance Industries (RIL) surged 14.87% to Rs 1083.30. According to the media reports, the social media giant, Facebook, was close to an initial agreement to pick up a 10% stake in Jio, but discussions could not advance due to the global disruption following the coronavirus outbreak. A deal was to have been announced by March end, reports added. Report suggested that a deal with Facebook will help Mukesh Ambani achieve his ambition of cutting parent company RIL's debt to zero by March 2021. Meanwhile, reports further added that Google had also been engaged in separate talks with Reliance Jio.

Bajaj Finance rose 3.67% to Rs 2577.05. The company informed that it has learned about a con-call invite allegedly scheduled on 24 March 2020 between Bajaj Finance and analysts/investors was in circulation. The company clarified that it did not schedule the con-call. The invite was fake and could have been circulated with malafide intent. Investors are hereby requested not to take cognizance of such false/fake circulation without verifying the same with the company or on websites of stock exchanges, it added.

ONGC fell 1.52% to Rs 61.55. Moody's Investors Service downgraded ONGC's local and foreign currency issuer ratings to Baa2 from Baa1. At the same time, Moody's has downgraded ONGC's baseline credit assessment (BCA) to baa2 from baa1; the senior unsecured bonds issued by ONGC to Baa2 from Baa1; the senior unsecured bonds guaranteed by ONGC and issued by ONGC Videsh and ONGC Videsh Vankorneft to Baa2 from Baa1. The outlook on all ratings remains negative.

Inox Leisure surged 6.57% to Rs 262.10. CRISIL has placed its ratings on the bank facilities of INOX Leisure (ILL) on 'rating watch with negative implications'. The rating action follows the closure of movie theatres across India by orders of state governments to contain the spread of Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19). While the present closure is valid until March 31, 2020, it could be extended if the pandemic worsens. Prolonged closure may significantly impact credit profiles of the film exhibition industry, including ILL.

Nestle India rose 6.68% to Rs 14461. The company said that in view of the lockdown the operations in some of the locations (manufacturing, distribution centres/ warehouses, offices, suppliers) are scaled down or suspended. As the Company is in the manufacture and sale of food and beverage products, the company is in discussion with the authorities to continue operations in the factories/ distribution centres where the operations has been suspended.

Indiabulls Housing Finance surged 6.77% to Rs 96.20. The rating committee of CRISIL has reaffirmed the long-term rating of Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited to “CRISIL AA”. Rating outlook has been revised to negative. The shortterm rating has been reaffirmed at “CRISIL A1+”. CRISIL noted strong liquidity position, healthy profitability and comfortable asset quality in retail segments, sizeable presence in the retail mortgage finance segment, strong capitalisation, with healthy cover for asset-side risks as reasons for reaffirmation of ratings. Revision of outlook was on account of the current uncertainty in the macro-environment due to fallout from Novel Coronavirus [Covid-19] situation and associated challenges that could continue to pose challenges to the company in raising funds from a diverse set of investors, and company's asset quality may get affected.

Ashok Leyland fell 3.51% to Rs 34.40. The auto maker on Wednesday (25 March) informed that CARE Ratings revised outlook to negative from stable on the company's long/short term bank facilities worth Rs 3700 crore while reaffirming the rating at 'CARE AA+/ CARE A1+.

Rallis India rose 1.76% to Rs 153. The company informed that it has commenced safe shutdown of activities at its manufacturing operations located at Lote (in Maharashtra), Ankleshwar and Dahej (in Gujarat) effective from Tuesday, 24 March 2020 in a bid to fight COVID-19 pandemic.

AAVAS Financiers slumped 6.83% to Rs 875.50. The housing financier informed on Wednesday (25 March) informed that all its branches and corporate office will remain closed in compliance with the Government of India's order. Employees supporting the critical business operations & essential customer service will continue to work from home as per the company policy that has been put in place under the business continuity plan, the company said in a statement before market hours on Wednesday.

The firm added that 100% of its loan portfolio is secured against mortgage. The portfolio is very granular in terms of customer profiles with average ticket size of sub Rs 10 lakh. It said that average loan-to-value (LTV) on the outstanding loan portfolio is less than 50%. It added that more than 95% of the EMI payments happen through electronic mode & banking channels. As of 24 March 2020, the company enjoyed a strong liquidity position (without considering principal repayments) as cash & cash equivalents of Rs 1092 crore and un-availed documented sanctions stood at Rs 1475 crore. The total debt repayment (including interest of Rs 182 crore) over H1 FY21 stood at Rs 431 crore.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia surged on Wednesday, following dramatic gains overnight on Wall Street.

Meanwhile, the media reported that the White House and Senate leaders reached a deal early Wednesday on a massive $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill to combat the economic impact of the outbreak. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin agreed to enhanced oversight of a $500 billion bailout fund that Democrats had criticized, reports added.

In US, markets on soared Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average notching its biggest one-day point gain ever and its best percentage gain since 1933, a day after plumbing the lowest levels since 2016, amid growing optimism for a fiscal stimulus package aimed at combating the economic impact of the coronavirus epidemic

The S&P BSE Sensex jumped 692.79 points or 2.67% at 26,674.03. The Nifty 50 index climbed 190.80 points or 2.51% at 7,801.05.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.56% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.05%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 931 shares rose and 1332 shares fell. A total of 163 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, the breadth was positive with 35 stocks advancing and 15 stocks declining.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman Speech:

Addressing the media on Tuesday, the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said work is going on and we are very close to coming up with an economic package that will be announced sooner rather than later.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman announced 8-point economic relief, which include income tax compliance, GST compliance, customs compliance, MCA compliance, IBC compliance, fisheries compliance, bank-related compliance and commerce-related compliance.

The last date for the income tax return for the financial year 18-19 is extended to 30 June 2020. For delayed payments interest rate has been reduced from 12% to 9%, the finance minister said. Aadhar-PAN linking date and Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme is postponed from April 1 to June 30, no additional 10% payment. The last date for March, April, May 2020 GST returns and Composition returns extended to 30 June 2020.

FM relaxed mandatory requirement of holding board meetings by a period of 60 days, this relaxation is for the next two quarters. Providing relief for imports/exporters, FM said customs clearance is now an essential service, till 30 June 2020. During this period of lockdown, customs clearance will be operational 24x7.

For newly incorporated companies, FM announced additional time of 6 more months to file declaration for commencement of business. For a director in any company, less than minimum residency of 182 days, shall now not be treated as a violation, FM said.

Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Anurag Thakur, said that Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code default limit has been increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1 crore.

FM further added that debit card holders who withdraw cash from any bank's ATM can do it free of charge for the next 3 months.

FM said that delay of upto 1 month in arrival of consignment for fisheries will be overlooked.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation on vital aspects relating to the menace of COVID-19 at 8 pm today, 24 March 2020.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty FMCG index rose 3.09% to 23,900.70. The index slumped 10.60% on Monday.

Among the index constituents, Britannia Industries (up 11.37%), Tata Global Beverages (up 10.41%), GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (up 8.39%), Hindustan Unilever (up 6.89%), Nestle India (up 5.35%), Colgate Palmolive (India) (up 2.56%), Marico (up 2.2%), Godrej Consumer Products (up 1.68%), Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care (up 1.29%), Dabur India (up 0.18%) and Jyothy Laboratories (up 0.17%) advanced.

Hindustan Unilever announced that it has signed an agreement with Glenmark Pharmaceuticals to acquire its intimate hygiene brand VWash. The deal includes the acquisition of intellectual property rights including trademarks, design and know-how related to the VWash brand. The consideration has been split into two parts involving an upfront cash payment upon closing of the deal and a deferred consideration over the next three years. The transaction is subject to fulfilment of certain conditions, and both parties would be working together to complete this in the next few months. Glenmark will continue to manage the business until the transaction is completed, and will also continue to manufacture for HUL for an agreed period of time.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Infosys jumped 13.29% to Rs 596.70 after the company said the US Securities & Exchange Commission has concluded its investigation on the whistle blower allegations. As previously disclosed, in connection with the audit committee's investigation into certain whistle blower complaints which concluded in January 2020, Infosys cooperated with an investigation by the United States Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the same matters.

Infosys said it received a notification from the SEC that it has concluded its investigation and the company does not anticipate any further action by the SEC on this matter. Infosys added that it has also responded to all the inquires received from the Indian regulatory authorities. The IT major said it will continue to cooperate with the authorities should there be any additional requests for information.

IndusInd Bank slipped 5.91% to Rs 316.65. The scrip tumbled 29.99% to hit the day's low at Rs 235.60. The bank announced the appointment of Sumant Kathpalia as the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer with effect from 24 March 2020, for three years. The bank said Romesh Sobti, shall demit the office of Managing Director & CEO of IndusInd Bank, on 23 March 2020, in line with the tenure approved by RBI.

IRCTC fell 5% to Rs 858.50, extending its losing streak to seventh consecutive session. The stock hit a lower circuit of 5% for seventh consecutive session. The outbreak of COVID-19 has made travellers reconsider going on vacation in this middle of a global pandemic, putting pressure on travel and tourism industry. The stock has tumbled 30% in seven trading sessions from its previous closing high of Rs 1228.05 hit on 13 March 2020. To curb the coronavirus outbreak, Railway Minister, Piyush Goyal, on 22 March 2020 announced that all passenger train services on Indian Railways including premium trains, mail/express trains, Konkan Railway, etc will be cancelled till 31 March 2020.

Avenue Supermarts (DMart) fell 2.57% to Rs 1780.05. The company said that some of its stores have remained closed for operations on certain days based on the directive by the local authorities. It added that it is currently selling only daily use essential items such as grocery and FMCG products at all its stores. The firm said it continues to receive regular supply of goods from all its suppliers and distributors.

Jubilant Foodworks slipped 0.26% to Rs 1285. The company in a regulatory filing after market hours yesterday announced that it has suspended dine-in facility across all Domino's Pizza restaurants. The company said this is in view of the emergent situation due to coronavirus (COVID-19). The company further said that it will mitigate the impact and promote the takeaway and delivery channels but there will be an adverse impact on the revenue of the company.

Spicejet fell 3.28% to Rs 32.40. InterGlobe Aviation jumped 7.49% to Rs 913.75. India suspended all domestic flights, effective midnight 24 March 2020, to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic that has claimed thousands of lives across the world. In a statement, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said: “The operations of domestic schedule commercial airlines shall cease operations with effective from the mid night 23.59 IST hours on 24 March 2020. Airlines have to plan operations so as to land at their destination before 2359 hours on 24 March 2020. The restrictions shall not apply to solely cargo carrying flights.”

Global Markets:

European and Asian stocks rose across the board on Tuesday after the US Federal Reserve launched unlimited bond buying and other fresh steps and the US Congress appeared closer to a deal on a massive stimulus package to boost the world's largest economy hammered by the coronavirus.

On Monday, the US Fed pledged that it will run an open-ended asset purchase program amid the global coronavirus outbreak. Fed said the program will run in the amounts needed to support smooth market functioning and effective transmission of monetary policy to broader financial conditions and the economy. The pledge is a new chapter in the Fed's money printing as it commits to keep expanding its balance sheet as necessary, rather than a commitment to a set amount.

In US, stocks booked sharp losses on Monday as the rapidly rising number of coronavirus cases across the nation overshadowed the Federal Reserve's pledge to buy unlimited bonds and bolster emergency lending facilities to support the flow of credit into the economy.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex crashed 3934.72 points or 13.15% at 25,981.24. The Nifty 50 index slumped 1135.20 points or 12.98% at 7,610.25. The crash was led by a steep selloff in shares of private lenders and auto companies.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index tanked 12.83% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 12.27%.

Sellers outpaced buyers. On the BSE, 233 shares rose and 2036 shares fell. A total of 132 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, all 50 stocks declined.

The Sensex and the Nifty hit lower circuit limit of 10% in morning trade. The market resumed trading at 10:43 IST for pre-opening session. Normal trading started from 10:58 IST.

India Lockdown:

After an overwhelming response to the Janata Curfew, 22 states in the country have announced a lockdown in 80 districts where Coronavirus cases have been reported so far. The lockdown will be in effect till 31 March 2020. During the lockdown, only essential services will be allowed to operate in all the districts which have reported cases or casualties due to Coronavirus. The lockdown is aimed at preventing a Coronavirus breakout in India.

COVID-19 Crisis:

Coronavirus has infected more than 341,330 people and killed more than 14,746 across the world. More than 99,040 people have recovered. India has reported 8 deaths and over 425 cases so far.

SEBI Measures:

Taking note of the continued abnormally high volatility in the market due to Coronavirus scare, Sebi has come up with various measures, including revision of market wide position limit, to ensure orderly trading and settlement, effective risk management, price discovery and maintenance of market integrity.

These measures have kicked in from the beginning of trading today, 23 March 2020 and will be in effect for a period of one month. The position would be reviewed thereafter and appropriate view taken thereon.

Sebi also has revised market wide position limit (MWPL). For stocks in F&O segment meeting certain criteria, MWPL may be revised to 50% of the existing levels. The margin for stocks meeting specific criteria will be increased, apart from having revised position limits in equity index derivatives (futures and options). Sebi also proposed to raise margin for non-F&O stocks in cash market to 40% in a phased manner. The proposed margins would only be applied in the cash market and may be applicable for a period of one month. The regulator also proposed flexing of dynamic price bands for F&O stocks. Currently, the bands are relaxed in the event of market trends in either direction. In addition to the existing requirements, the dynamic price bands may be flexed only after a cooling-off period of 15 minutes from the time of meeting the existing criteria specified by stock exchanges for flexing.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Bank index slipped 16.55% to 16,954.25.

Among the private banks, Axis Bank (down 26.98%), Bandhan Bank (down 25.13%), Federal Bank (down 23.75%), IndusInd Bank (down 22.99%), City Union Bank (down 19.99%), ICICI Bank (down 16.98%), RBL Bank (down 16.53%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 13.44%) and HDFC Bank (down 12.14%) declined.

Among the public sector banks, Canara Bank (down 20.9%), Bank of Baroda (down 14.15%), State Bank of India (down 13.19%), Indian Bank (down 12.6%), Union Bank of India (down 11.82%), IDBI Bank (down 11.51%), Bank of India (down 9.22%), Central Bank of India (down 7.63%), Punjab National Bank (down 7.59%), Punjab & Sind Bank (down 7.05%), UCO Bank (down 5.15%), Bank of Maharashtra (down 4.2%) and Andhra Bank (down 1.42%) tumbled.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Ashok Leyland slumped 18% to Rs 36, extending losses for third day. The commercial vehicles maker said its board has decided to acquire a 6.99% stake in Hinduja Leyland Finance (HLFL) as against its original plan to acquire 19%. In the past three sessions, the stock has tumbled 42.5% from its recent closing high of Rs 64.35 recorded on 18 March 2020.

Titan Company dropped 11.37% to Rs 803 after the jewellery manufacturer announced a shutdown of its offices since 17 March 2020. The company also said its plants are closed for a week starting from 23 March 2020 while retail stores will remain shut till 29 March 2020.

Hero MotoCorp dived 11.12% to Rs 1615.40. The company has decided to halt operations at all its global manufacturing facilities - including in India, Colombia and Bangladesh ‐ and the Global Parts Centre (GPC) at Neemrana with immediate effect until 31 March 2020. This is considering the safety and wellbeing of its employees as top priority in view of the escalating COVID‐19 situation.

Mahindra & Mahindra crashed 9.85% to Rs 291.15. M&M said in light of heightened concern on spread of CoronaVirus in the State of Maharashtra, the company decided to suspend the manufacturing operations at Nagpur Plant with immediate effect and Chakan (Pune) and Kandivali (Mumbai) from Monday, 23 March 2020 night onwards.

Maruti Suzuki India slumped 16.49% to Rs 4240. The company has taken a decision on production closure as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19. The company will shut production and office operations at its facilities in Gurugram and Manesar, Haryana with immediate effect till further notice. The R&D Centre at Rohtak will also remain closed, it added. The duration of this shutdown will depend upon Government policy, the company said in a statement.

J.K Cement lost 10.52% to Rs 883.25. The company will shut down JK Cement Works, Nimbahera and JK Cement Works located at Mangrol, situated in Chittorgarh, Rajasthan. It will shut down JK White Cement Works and JK Cement Works, Gotan both situated in Nagaur, Rajasthan. Lastly, it will also close down JK Cement Works, Jharli, Jhajjar Haryana, and JK Cement Works, Aligarh, U.P with immediate effect till further notice. The company further added duration of the shutdown will depend upon Government Policies.

Eicher Motors tumbled 15% to Rs 13312.50 after the automobile major declared that Royal Enfield has decided to suspend all operations globally from Monday, 23 March 2020 till Tuesday, 31 March 2020, on account of COVID-19 pandemic. The company said operations in manufacturing facilities across Tiruvottiyur, Oragadam and Vallam Vadagal in Chennai, technical centres across Chennai in Tamil Nadu have been closed. Overseas, offices and company owned dealerships in Bruntingthorpe, Leicestershire are closed. The company has further issued advisories to all dealerships in India to shut down for the same time period, or follow local administrative orders, as may apply.

IPCA Laboratories rose 0.44% to Rs 1377.85. The company informed that the USFDA had partially lifted an import alert on the company's two plants to ensure supply of chloroquine tablets. The exception for import has been made for the Hydroxychloroquine Sulphate and Chloroquine Phosphate APIs produced at the company's APIs manufacturing unit situated at Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh) and hydroxychloroquine sulphate tablets produced at the company's formulations manufacturing units situated at SEZ Indore, Pithampur (Madhya Pradesh) and Piparia (Silvassa).

Shree Cement slumped 10.98% to Rs 16864.60 after it announced shutdown of all its plants based within Rajasthan until 31 March 2020. The company said that the decision halt operation is in line with Rajasthan Government's direction for closure of all production facilities. Shares of Shree Cement were trading 14.22% lower at Rs 16251.75.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia tumbled on Monday on growing anxiety over the fallout from the Covid-19 coronavirus as no certainty was in sight on how long it would continue.

Markets across the world were hammered as a rising tide of national lockdowns threatened to overwhelm policymakers' frantic efforts to cushion what is likely to be a deep global recession.

In US, stock indexes finished another bruising week with sharp losses as panic over the coronavirus outbreak refused to abate, amid the acceleration of the global death toll. Investors haven't yet been comforted by the government's response to limit the economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic, whose severity and duration is unclear.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, jumped 1627.73 points 5.75% at 29,915.96. The Nifty 50 index was surged 482 points or 5.83% at 8,745.45.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 4.18% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 4.03%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1447 shares rose and 1010 shares fell. A total of 148 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 46 stocks advanced while 4 stocks declined.

Four Cities of Maharashtra Locked Down:

In a major decision, Maharashtra government on Friday (20 March) ordered its residents from Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Nagpur to stay at home unless required to make essential trips. The measure was aimed at containing the rapidly expanding coronavirus outbreak. Banks, grocery stores and medical shops, clinics and hospitals will remain open. Trains and buses will continue to operate.

Economy:

Fitch Ratings on Friday cut India's growth forecast to 5.1% for FY 2020-21, saying the coronavirus outbreak is likely to hit business investment and exports. Fitch had in December 2019 projected India's growth at 5.6% for 2020-21 and 6.5% in the following year.

Fitch said the number of people affected by coronavirus will keep rising in the coming weeks but that the outbreak will remain contained. However, there are downside risks to this scenario.

COVID-19 Crisis:

Coronavirus has infected more than 245,000 people and killed more than 10,000 across the world. More than 88,000 people have recovered.

India has reported 5 deaths and over 195 cases so far. In his address to the nation, PM Narendra Modi called for Janata Curfew on 22 March 2020 and urged people to avoid panic buying.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Hero MotoCorp rose 7.38% to Rs 1832.35. The company said it commenced commercial production at its new greenfield manufacturing facility, situated at Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh. This facility is the company's eighth manufacturing plant and sixth in India.

Meanwhile, the Hero MotoCorp has filed an interlocutory application before the Supreme Court of India seeking relaxation of the deadline set for sale or registration of BS-IV vehicles i.e. 31 March 2020.

Hero MotoCorp said that in view of the completely unforeseen developments that have arisen out of the prevailing force majeure situation on account of COVID-19, the company has prayed for an extension of time for a period of three months, as this has hampered all aspects of industry. The Ministry of Finance has also declared that the COVID-19 should be considered as a case of natural calamity and force majeure be invoked.

State Bank of India advanced 2.55% to Rs 209.05. SBI informed that a meeting of the central board of the bank will be held on 27 March 2020 to consider the extension of approval accorded by central board for raising equity capital from market up to Rs 20,000 crore from the market till 31 March, 2021 subject to the approval of shareholders, RBI and Gol. The board of the bank also approved divestment of entire equity stake (19.99%) held in A Little World.

Godrej Properties (GPL) jumped 5% to Rs 690 after the company announced its entry into the Faridabad market with its first residential plotted development. This project will offer approximately 95,000 square meters (1 million sq. ft.) of plotted development potential offering attractive plot sizes along with good lifestyle amenities. The site is strategically located and offers a well-developed social infrastructure with multiple schools, hospitals, and retail spaces in vicinity. This micro-market also has excellent road connectivity to both Delhi and Noida. Shares of Godrej Properties were down 5.65% at Rs 620.

Syngene International added 2.28% higher at Rs 239.80. The company announced on Thursday (19 March 2020) that the newly setup manufacturing facility of the company situated at Mangalore Special Economic Zone, Karnataka has commenced operations and successfully processed the first order upon receipt of all statutory licences and clearances from relevant authorities. The company's third quarter business performance was driven primarily by growth in discovery services and supported by steady performance in development services and the dedicated R&D centres.

Biocon surged 9.66% higher at Rs 276.95. The drug maker announced that it has received the Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the post-approval and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) inspection of its small molecules API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) manufacturing facility at Bengaluru, conducted between 20 and 26 February 2020. The EIR has been closed with a 'VAI' classification for the observations. At the conclusion of the inspection last month the agency had issued a Form 483, with two observations, which were procedural in nature and are being addressed by the company.

Rites jumped 7.34% to Rs 243.60. The company informed that its board has approved the closure of the joint venture agreement with BNV Gujarat Rail, subject to the further approval. The joint venture (JV) company named BNV Gujarat Rail was incorporated on 9 December 2016 and subsequently a joint venture agreement was signed between Rites, Shapoorji Pallonji Roads and PCM Cement Concrete.

Praj Industries surged 9.57% to Rs 52.65 after the company said its board will meet on 27 March 2020 to consider buyback of equity shares.

ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company advanced 0.65% to Rs 1027.40. The insurance company said it has rolled out a focused 'COVID-19 Protection Cover'. The policy has been launched in group insurance mode. Amid the contagious pandemic, this policy on diagnosis of COVID-19 (+ve) will pay 100% of the sum insured irrespective of hospitalization expenses.

Global Markets:

European stocks extended gains while most Asian markets ended higher on Thursday following the overnight rebound in the US market, as massive relief packages announced by global central banks and governments to ease the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic boosted investor sentiment.

China's loan prime rates (LPR) on Friday were kept unchanged from their February levels, with both the 1-year and 5-year LPR left steady at 4.05% and 4.75%, respectively.

Developments on the ongoing global coronavirus outbreak continued to be watched. Europe has now become the epicenter of the global coronavirus pandemic, with Italy's death toll surpassing that of China, where the virus originated, and cases rising exponentially across the continent.

Central banks from across the globe, ranging from Australia's Reserve Bank of Australia to the U.S. Federal Reserve, have cut interest rates and announced plans to buy bonds in recent days as authorities worldwide race to combat the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

In US, stocks closed modestly higher on Thursday, in another volatile session, as central banks and governments pledged support for the economic shocks from the coronavirus pandemic.

The broader market slumped. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 3.70% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index tumbled 4.53%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 580 shares rose and 1821 shares fell. A total of 160 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 10 stocks advanced while 40 stocks declined.

Concerns over the coronavirus epidemic overshadowed the steps taken by global central banks for reviving the economy. The US Federal Reserve, The Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank have announced coordinated actions to enhance liquidity provision in financial markets to tackle disruption caused by coronavirus outbreak.

Coronavirus Crisis:

Coronavirus has infected more than 2,00,000 people and killed more than 8000 across the world. Total cases in India have risen to 169. Three persons have lost their lives in India due to the virus. As per the latest update, two women tested positive for coronavirus in Mumbai metropolitan region on Thursday, taking the number of such cases in Maharashtra to 47.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation on 19 March 2020 at 8 PM, during which he will talk about issues relating to COVID-19 and the efforts to combat it.

Global Markets:

European shares were mixed Thursday after the European Central Bank (ECB) launched a 750 billion euro ($820 billion) bond-buying program to help the region's economy through the coronavirus outbreak. However, Asian stock markets ended in the red.

ECB said it is launching a new, expanded program to buy financial assets in a bid to calm markets as monetary authorities struggle to counter the devastation the virus outbreak is wreaking on the global economy. The ECB will buy 750 billion euro ($820 billion) in bonds through 2020, with Greek debt and non-financial commercial paper eligible under the programme for the first time.

Stocks in the US finished sharply lower on Wednesday, but off session lows after Congress passed the first of two planned bills providing some relief from the economic damage the coronavirus pandemic is inflicting on businesses and consumers.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Reserve invoked its emergency authority on Wednesday to create a backstop for prime money market mutual funds. The new Money Market Mutual Liquidity Fund will provide loans to financial institutions to buy assets from prime money market funds.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index fell 5.87% to 5,192.55, underperforming other sectoral indices on the NSE.

Mahindra & Mahindra (down 9.21%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 8.99%), Eicher Motors (down 5.65%), Tata Motors (down 3.64%), and Escorts (down 0.8%) declined.

Hero MotoCorp (up 1.83%), TVS Motor Company (up 0.3%) and Bajaj Auto (up 0.29%) advanced.

Ashok Leyland tumbled 25.25% to Rs 48.10. The commercial vehicles maker said that the board of directors of the company have approved to acquire upto 19% additional equity shares in Hinduja Leyland Finance (HLFL), from the existing shareholders for a consideration not exceeding Rs 1200 crore.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Shares of InterGlobe Aviation fell 4.93% to Rs 905.35 while SpiceJet tumbled 9.91% to Rs 34.10.

According to data released on Wednesday by aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), passengers carried by domestic airlines during Jan-Feb 2020 were 251.50 lakhs as against 238.56 lakhs during the corresponding period of previous year thereby registering annual growth of 5.42% and monthly growth of 8.98%.

DGCA added that the passenger load factor in the month of February 2020 has shown increasing trend primarily due to airlines offering promotional fares resulting in increased demand.

InterGlobe Aviation's (IndiGo) market share stood at 48% in February as compared to 47.9% in January. The airline carried 59.31 lakh million passengers in February, down by 3.09% from 61.20 lakh passengers in January 2020.

SpiceJet flew 18.91 lakh passengers, achieving a 15.3% market share, in February 2020. The company toured 21.24 lakh passengers in January 2020, achieving a 16.6% market share.

Meanwhile, the media reported that IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta has announced a pay cut for all employees, with a 25% cut in his own salary. This comes in the wake of a severe hit in the aviation industry owing to travel bans imposed by the government to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Senior vice presidents of the company and positions above that will be taking a 20% pay cut, while vice presidents and cockpit crew will be looking at a 15% reduction, media reports said.

Motilal Oswal Financial Services slipped 1.64% to Rs 555.95. The company said that its board will consider share buyback on 21 March 2020.

TCI Express surged 4.59% to Rs 609. The company said that the direct impact of Coronavirus on its business and operations is expected to be very limited, given our unique asset light model with majority of revenues from the B2B segment. The firm's business fundamentals remain robust with diversified client base and industry presence. Furthermore, the company is engaged in the transportation of intermediate parts and products such as spare parts in case of automobiles, API's in case of pharmaceuticals, which are not impacted by short term demand fluctuations from the end consumer. All the company's routes, branches and sorting centers are operational at almost similar utilization levels as Q3 FY2020.

Wipro fell 2.09% to Rs 166.25. The company announced the launch of its Microsoft Business Unit. The unit will focus on the development and evangelization of solutions leveraging Microsoft's enterprise cloud services.

Yes Bank fell 10.28% to Rs 54.55. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday withdrew its moratorium imposed on the private lender, allowing restoration of all banking operations. This came after a consortium of eight public and private banks, led by State Bank of India, agreed to infuse capital into Yes Bank to rescue it under the restructuring plan proposed by the government and RBI.

Meanwhile, Madhu Kapur sold 2.48 crore shares of Yes Bank in a block deal on NSE at Rs 65.07 each on Wednesday (18 March 2020).

Madhu Kapur held 17.27 crore shares, or 1.377% stake in Yes Bank as on 17 March 2020. Madhu Kapur is wife of the late Ashok Kapur, who founded the private lender along with Rana Kapoor in 2004.

As per Yes Bank's restructuring scheme, investors owning more than 100 shares are being subject to a three-year lock-in for 75% of their total investment.

JSW Steel were down 4.03% at Rs 157.25. JSW Steel informed that CARE Ratings had revised the company's long term (bank facilities, non-convertible debenture) rating to 'CARE AA- (Stable)' from 'CARE AA (Negative)'. CARE Ratings said that the revision in ratings assigned mainly takes into account slower than expected recovery in the steel prices, leading to contraction in the operating margins as reflected from the subdued financial performance of the company during 9MFY20.

Alphageo (India) rose 1.56% to Rs 140 after the company said it received notification of award (NOA) of a contract worth Rs 76.67 crore from Oil India.

V.S.T Tillers Tractors shed 7.63% after the company reported dismal February sales figures. The commercial vehicle manufacturer reported an 8.96% decline in power tiller sales to 1361 units in February 2020 from 1495 units in February 2019. Tractor sales fell 2.93% to 564 units in February 2020 from 581 units in February 2019.

IFB Industries announced that it has commenced commercial production of company's new projection located in Goa from 17 March 2020. The new project will manufacture split air conditioners. Shares of IFB Industries fell 7.05% to Rs 273.

The barometer index, S&P BSE Sensex closed 1709.58 points or 5.59% lower at 28,869.51 as per provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index closed 425.55 points or 4.75% lower at 8,541.50 as per provisional closing data.

The broader market crashed with S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declining 4.88% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index tanking 6.43%. The market breadth favoured the sellers. On the BSE, 346 shares rose and 2019 shares fell. A total of 145 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 6 stocks advanced while 44 stocks declined.

Meanwhile, the total number of reported novel coronavirus cases in India has climbed to 148, with nine fresh cases reported from various parts of the country on Wednesday. The total cases in India include 25 foreign nationals and the three persons who died in Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

SC Verdict on AGR Dues:

The media reported that a bench of the Supreme Court of India on 18 March 2020 held that no further objections to its orders would be allowed against payable dues. Justice Arun Mishra reportedly questioned the telecom companies' (telcos) self-assessment. The bench further added that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) demand was confirmed by the court and self-assessment cannot be allowed when Supreme Court (SC) order clearly spells out the dues. He reportedly added that some telcos have requested 8-10 months' time to corroborate numbers of self-assessment, but this cannot be allowed.

Economy:

S&P Global Ratings on Wednesday lowered India's economic growth forecast to 5.2% for 2020, saying the global economy is entering a recession amid the coronavirus pandemic. The agency had earlier projected a growth rate of 5.7% during the 2020 calendar.

Global Markets:

European markets traded with deep cuts while Asian markets closed in red on Wednesday, despite Western governments promising to unleash billions of dollars to help businesses and citizens get through the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, Japan's Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso has said that even if Japan can control the COVID-19 outbreak, the 2020 Summer Olympics would not make sense if athletes from other countries cannot come, according to a media report. The 2020 Summer Olympics is set to take place in Tokyo in July.

In US, markets rebounded on Tuesday, helped by the White House which is seeking a stimulus package worth anywhere from $850 billion to more than $1 trillion as the Trump administration looked to battle the economic impact from the coronavirus outbreak.

Stocks in Spotlight:

IndusInd Bank crashed 24.54% on concerns over its telecom exposure. IndusInd Bank after market hours on Tuesday (17 March 2020) clarified that it is financially strong, well-capitalized, profitable and a growing entity with strong governance. The bank issued the clarified in wake of the significantly higher level of market rumors and speculation around IndusInd Bank stock.

Commenting on its exposure to telecom companies, the bank said relief measures for the telecom sector are under process of approval which is a significant positive step and the bank awaits further decisions/details in this matter.

Yes Bank was up 1.96% at Rs 59.8 as the RBI-imposed moratorium will be lifted today and the private lender will restore full banking services after 6 pm today.

Vodafone Idea slumped 35.26% to Rs 3.14. On Monday (16 March), Vodafone Idea said it filed its self-assessment of the AGR liabilities with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on 6 March 2020, in which AGR liability principal amount of Rs 6,854 crore was determined for the period from FY 2006-07 to FY 2018-19. The company had earlier paid a sum of Rs 2,500 crore on 17 February 2020 and a further sum of Rs 1,000 crore on 20 February 2020 towards this liability. The company has on 16 March 2020 paid a further amount of Rs 3,354 crore to the DoT, being the balance part of the principal amount towards AGR liability. With the payment of Rs 3354 crore to the DoT, the company has paid the full principal amount of Rs 6854 crore towards the AGR dues.

Larsen & Toubro announced that the company has approved an interim dividend of Rs 10 per equity share with a record date of 26 March 2020. Shares of L&T were down 5.59% at Rs 901.85.

Shares of KEC International were down 2.71% to Rs 253.25. The company in an exchange filing said that has secured new orders of Rs 1,047 crore across its various businesses. The company secured orders in Transmission & Distribution business, Civil segment, Solar space and Cables business. Commenting on order win, Vimal Kejriwal, MD & CEO, KEC International said, We are delighted with the new order wins secured across our business verticals amidst the current market scenario. The orders in T&D will enable us to further strengthen our portfolio in the international markets. We are particularly encouraged by the second order in the Defence segment secured by our Civil business.

President Donald Trump acknowledged Monday that the US economy may be heading toward a recession because of the coronavirus but predicted growth would bounce back strongly. Trump warned that the outbreak could last into July or August.

Selling was broad based. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 1.84% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 2.27%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 975 shares rose and 695 shares fell. A total of 75 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 16 stocks advanced while 34 stocks declined.

Coronavirus Crisis:

A 64-year-old coronavirus patient died at Mumbai's Kasturba hospital on Tuesday (17 March), India's third reported death linked to Covid-19 infection. This is Maharashtra's first coronavirus death. Last week, India confirmed first coronavirus-linked death when a 76-year-old man from Karnataka's Kalburgi died. Second case was reported in Delhi when a 68-year-old woman from Janakpuri, succumbed to the virus.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia declined on Tuesday, following Wall Street's historic market rout on Monday, as the coronavirus remained a major risk to economic growth.

The Philippine stock market was closed as of Tuesday after the government imposed restrictions on movement in the capital.

Investors watched the rapidly evolving situation surrounding the global coronavirus outbreak, which has infected more than 168,000 across the world and taken at least 6,610 lives, according to the World Health Organization. Fears over the economic impact of the virus have triggered strong moves in global markets in recent days.

Meanwhile, Europe's lockdown over the coronavirus continues to dominate headlines. Italy and Spain remain the worst hit countries but France and Germany have also reported sharp rises in cases. The French president announced that the European Union would be closing its external borders on Tuesday.

The U.S. Federal Reserve announced on Sunday a massive monetary stimulus, in an emergency move. On Monday, several central banks in Asia also announced measures to combat the impact of the coronavirus.

In US, on Monday, President Donald said the country could be heading for a recession due to the coronavirus outbreak. The Dow ended nearly 3,000 points lower on Monday, capping an ugly session for Wall Street that saw circuit breakers temporarily halt trading for 15 minutes, amid rising fears that fresh Federal Reserve stimulus won't be enough to combat the threat of lost jobs and wages from the coronavirus outbreak.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Grasim Industries fell 3.56% to Rs 556. The company in a regulatory filing announced that the Competition Commission of India has passed an order under section 4 of the Competition Act 2002 imposing a penalty of Rs 301.61 crore on the company. The penalty imposed is in respect of its domestic Man-Made Fibre turnover.

Titagarh Wagons fell 4.46% to Rs 26.75. The company said that the operations of its Italian arm have been severely affected due to the Coronavirus outbreak. It has also temporarily suspended operations at the said plant for a period of 15 days.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries rose 0.80% to Rs 371.75 after the company said its board approved a Rs 1,700 crore share buyback offer at a maximum price of Rs 425 per share.

RBL Bank slipped 0.52% to Rs 162.05. The bank reiterated that it is financially strong, well-capitalized, profitable, and a growing entity with a strong governance set-up.

Yes Bank surged 58.49% to Rs 58.80 after credit ratings agency, Moody's on Monday (16 March 2020) upgraded Yes Bank's long-term foreign currency issuer and foreign currency senior unsecured MTN program ratings to Caa1 from Caa3 and (P)Caa1 from (P)Caa3 respectively. In addition, Moody's has confirmed the bank's long-term foreign and local currency bank deposit ratings at Caa1. Moody's has also confirmed the bank's long-term domestic and foreign currency Counterparty Risk Rating (CRR) and long-term Counterparty Risk Assessment (CR Assessment) at Caa1 and Caa1(cr) respectively.

The upgrade takes into account the bailout of the bank's depositors and senior creditors under the Yes Bank Reconstruction Scheme, as approved by the Indian Government (Baa2 negative) on 13 March 2020. The rating action also takes into account the confirmation by the Indian authorities and Yes Bank that the moratorium on its depositors and creditors will be lifted on 18 March 2020.

Delta Corp fell 8.77% to Rs 78.50 after the company said its casinos in Goa will remain closed until 31 March, 2020, and will be reviewed thereafter for further course of action. The company said this I As a measure to prevent and contain corona virus (COVID-19) disease in Goa.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reportedly called a press conference at 4 pm on Monday. RBI is widely expected to follow global central banks in announcing an emergency rate cut.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slumped 2713.41 points or 7.96% at 31,390.07. The Nifty 50 index crashed 756.10 points or 7.60% at 9,199.10.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index tumbled 3.33% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index crashed 3.86%.

Sellers outpaced buyers. On the BSE, 330 shares rose and 1414 shares fell. A total of 96 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 1 stock advanced while 49 stocks declined.

Economy:

The Government announced wholesale inflation numbers for February 2020. The annual rate of inflation, based on monthly Wholesale Price Index (WPI), stood at 2.26% (provisional) for the month of February 2020 (over February 2019) as compared to 3.1% (provisional) reported in January 2020 and 2.93% registered in February 2019.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Wipro slumped 8.81% to Rs 180. The IT major announced its global strategic partnership with PLEXIS Healthcare Systems. This partnership will enable a streamlined, efficient, accurate and integrated plan administration solution to support healthcare payers and plan sponsors worldwide.

Yes Bank surged 45.21% to Rs 37.10. It was the only gainer in Nifty Bank index after a bunch of private lenders infused cash in the beleaguered bank. Among private bank players, ICICI Bank (down 10.19%) and HDFC (down 10.05%) have committed to invest Rs 1000 crore each. Axis Bank (down 10.24%) and Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 6.42%) will invest Rs 600 crore and Rs 500 crore respectively. Federal Bank (down 8.10%) and Bandhan Bank (down 14.50%) have committed to put Rs 300 crore each in cash starved bank. IDFC First Bank (down 11.58%) approved an injection of Rs 250 crore in Yes Bank.

The government on Friday (13 March) notified the scheme of reconstruction for Yes Bank. As per the reconstruction scheme, apart from State Bank of India (down 7.91%) and other new private investors picking up equity in the cash strapped bank, all existing shareholders who are holding 100 or more shares will also face a three-year lock-in for their 75% investment.

Meanwhile, the restrictions on withdrawals from the bank accounts will be lifted in three working days or on 18 March. “The order of moratorium on the reconstructed bank issued by the Government of India...shall cease to have effect on the third working day at 18:00 hours from the date of commencement of this Scheme,” the notification said.

Yes Bank reported a net loss of Rs 18,560 crore in Q3 December 2019 as compared to a net profit of Rs 1,002 crore in Q3 December 2018. Pre-tax loss of the private lender stood at Rs 24,772 crore in Q3 December 2019 as against a pre-tax profit of Rs 1,440 crore in Q3 December 2018.

Total income in the December quarter stood at Rs 6268.50 crore, down by 29.17% from Rs 8849.81 crore reported in the same period last year.

The bank's provisions and contingencies surged 4401% to Rs 24,766 crore in Q3 December 2019 from Rs 550 crore in Q3 December 2018.

The bank's gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at Rs 40,709.20 crore as on 31 December 2019 as against Rs 17,134.41 crore as on 30 September 2019 and Rs 5,158.62 crore as on 31 December 2018.

The ratio of gross NPAs to gross advances stood at 18.87% as on 31 December 2019 as against 7.39% as on 30 September 2019 and 2.10% as on 31 December 2018. The ratio of net NPAs to net advances stood at 5.97% as on 31 December 2019 as against 4.35% as on 30 September 2019 and 1.18% as on 31 December 2018.

Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers (RCF) tanked 12.21% to Rs 30.20. The credit rating agency ICRA downgraded the company's bank facilities worth Rs 5100 crore and non-convertible debentures (NCDs) worth Rs 500 crore to [ICRA]AA-(Stable) from [ICRA]AA(Negative) while reaffirming its commercial paper programme worth Rs 3000 crore at [ICRA]A1+. Downgrade in the long-term rating takes into account the weakening cost competitiveness and tightening of energy norms by Government of India.

NMDC fell 2.64% to Rs 73.80. The company on Monday (16 March 2020) reported that prices of lump ore (65.53, 6-40mm) have been reduced by Rs 50 or 1.56% to Rs 3150 per ton from Rs 3,200 set in January 2020. The company also reduced prices of fines (643,-10mm) by Rs 50 or 1.72% to Rs 2860 per ton from Rs 2,910 set in January 2020.

Vodafone Idea fell 0.53% to Rs 5.60. The telecom firm said it filed its self-assessment of the AGR liabilities with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on 6 March 2020, in which AGR liability principal amount of Rs 6,854 crore was determined for the period from FY 2006-07 to FY 2018-19. The company had earlier paid a sum of Rs 2,500 crore on 17 February 2020 and a further sum of Rs 1,000 crore on 20 February 2020 towards this liability. The company has on 16 March 2020 paid a further amount of Rs 3,354 crore to the DoT, being the balance part of the principal amount towards AGR liability. With the payment of Rs 3354 crore to the DoT, the company has paid the full principal amount of Rs 6854 crore towards the AGR dues.

Shares of SBI Cards and Payment Services were trading at Rs 678 at 15:33 IST on BSE, at a discount of 10.20% over the initial public offer (IPO) price of Rs 755. Shares of SBI Cards and Payment Services listed at Rs 658, a discount of 12.85% to IPO price. So far the stock hit a high of Rs 734.10 and low of Rs 658. On BSE, so far 11.36 lakh shares were traded on the counter. The IPO of SBI Cards and Payment Services ended with robust subscription on 5 March 2020. The issue received bids for 225.09 crore shares, as against 10.02 crore shares on offer. The issue was subscribed 22.45 times. The company had priced the IPO at the top end of the Rs 750 to Rs 755 per share price band.

Wonderla Holidays slumped 9.76% to Rs 171.10 after it informed about the temporary closure of its Hyderabad Park. Consequent to the reported Corona Virus cases, the company has decided to temporarily close the Hyderabad Park from 15 to 21 March 2020. This decision has been taken in accordance with the safety and pre-cautionary guidelines outlined by the State Government to prevent and contain the spread of COVID 19.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia tumbled as the US Federal Reserve slashed its benchmark interest rate to zero and launched a massive quantitative easing program in an emergency move on Sunday.

Following the Fed decision, US index futures fell sharply. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down over 1045 points, implying a steep slide in the US market on Monday.

Meanwhile, China has unveiled a rash of horrific data, further hammering sentiment across Asia. China's fixed asset investments in the January February period contracted 24.5%. The country's industrial output in the first two months of the year dropped 13.5%, and retail sales plunged 20.5%.

On Sunday, the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates to near zero for the first time since the global financial crisis and announced sweeping measures to address coronavirus outbreak. The US central bank slashed its main policy rate by a full percentage point to between zero and 0.25% — a level last seen in 2015. It also unveiled at least $700 billion in asset purchases.

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) on Monday followed the Fed's actions by announcing it aimed to double its purchases of exchange traded funds to 12 trillion yen ($112 billion) a year. However, the central bank left its key policy rated unchanged at -0.1%.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 2.71% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.67%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1261 shares rose and 1125 shares fell. A total of 163 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 42 stocks advanced while 8 stocks declined.

Trading was halted in early session after benchmark indices dropped by 10% to hit the lower circuit. The market sharply recovered during the second pre-open session of the day. The market resumed at 10:05 IST for pre-opening session. Normal trading restarted from 10:20 IST.

A sharp rebound in US index futures eased investor concerns. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average erased early losses and were up 836 points, implying a strong opening in the US market on Friday.

A clarification from the stock market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) also calmed investors. Sebi and Stock Exchanges have a robust risk management framework in place which automatically gets triggered in response to movements in the indices (BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty) as well as individual stocks both in cash and derivatives market, it said.

The regulator further said that the positions of margin payments, margin utilization, adequacy of collaterals (securities deposited by the brokers with the clearing corporations) and the pay-in's obligations being met by the clearing members (brokers) are being continuously monitored. Similarly, the settlement and clearance of trades are also being constantly monitored. Sebi and stock exchanges are prepared to take suitable actions as may be required, it added.

Economy:

Consumer price inflation in India eased to 6.58% in February 2020 from 7.59% in January 2020. The fall was mainly due to easing food prices. Food inflation eased to 10.81% in February from 13.63% a month ago. The retail inflation was 2.57% in February 2019.

Industrial production in India jumped 2% year-on-year in January 2020, following a 0.3% drop in December. The indices of industrial production for the mining, manufacturing and electricity sectors for January 2020 stand at 124.3, 137.6 and 155.6 respectively, with the corresponding growth rates of 4.4%, 1.5% and 3.1% as compared to January 2019.

India's current account deficit (CAD) narrowed sharply to $1.4 billion (0.2% of GDP) in Q3 of 2019-20 from $17.7 billion (2.7% of GDP) in Q3 of 2018-19 and $6.5 billion (0.9% of GDP) in the preceding quarter Q2 of 2019-20. The contraction in the CAD was primarily on account of a lower trade deficit at $34.6 billion and a rise in net services receipts at $21.9 billion as compared with the corresponding period of last year.

The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday announced that it will undertake a 6-month US dollar sell/buy swaps to provide liquidity to the foreign exchange market. The swaps will be conducted through the auction route in multiple tranches. The central bank will conduct US dollar-rupee sell-buy swaps worth $2 billion on 16 March 2020.

COVID-19 Crisis:

India reported its first confirmed Covid-19 death and the number of positive cases in the country neared 80. COVID-19 has so far claimed 4,600 lives while more than 126,000 people have been infected globally.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi clamped down on foreign travel by his ministers. The government temporarily barred the entry of foreigners by cancelling most visas till 15 April. These measures came in wake of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring the spread a pandemic.

Stocks in Spotlight:

The National Stock Exchange on Thursday notified that Bandhan Bank will be replace Yes Bank in Nifty Bank index with effect from 27 March 2020. The Nifty Bank index has a total of 12 stocks. NSE further said that ITC will replace Yes Bank in Nifty 50 Value 20 index.

Shares of Yes Bank rose 2% to Rs 25.55 while Bandhan Bank fell 0.24% to Rs 334.

State Bank of India jumped 13.25%. The bank's executive committee of central board (ECCB) approved purchase of 725 crore shares in Yes Bank at Rs 10 per share. SBI's shareholding in Yes Bank will remain within 49% of the paid up capital of Yes Bank.

Wipro informed that it has entered into an agreement with SAP SE to jointly go to market and co-develop solutions for the retail and fashion industry. The intent of this engagement is to co-develop new solutions, which will help retail and fashion companies effectively manage business processes and customer experience. Shares of Wipro were trading 1.28% lower at Rs 196.05.

Global Markets:

European markets were trading higher on Friday after a historic sell-off yesterday. Italy remains the worst affected coronavirus-hit nation with over 15,000 cases and 1,016 confirmed deaths as of Thursday, 12 March 2020.

Asian shares plunged in early trade, then recovered slightly to end with modest losses amid fears of economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis.

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that up to 10,000 people in the UK may be infected with the COVID-19.

Back in Norway, Norges Bank, the central bank of the country, cut its key interest rate to 1% from 1.5% on Friday, 13 March 2020 in a surprise move, to counter the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

In US, stocks tumbled on Thursday with both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index suffering their worst day since the 19 October, 1987 Black Monday crash. Stock prices plunged despite a move by the US Federal Reserve to offer some $1.5 trillion worth of funding to keep credit flowing through financial markets to businesses as governments move to restrict the movement of people in an attempt to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

The selloff was triggered by the coronavirus fears after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) as a global pandemic. Following this, the US President Donald Trump announced to ban all travel from Europe to the United States for 30 days, except from the United Kingdom, to contain coronavirus blow. Markets have also been slammed this week by a plunge in oil prices, after oil exporters said they would increase output rather than cutting production.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 7.62% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index tanked 8.61%.

Sellers outpaced buyers. On the BSE, 217 shares rose and 2239 shares fell. A total of 108 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, all 50 stocks declined.

The Indian Government suspended all visas, except those issued for diplomatic, official, UN/international organisations, employment and projects till April 15. The decisions were announced after a group of ministers headed by health minister Harsh Vardhan met to review and take stock of the Covid-19 situation domestically and abroad.

According to a data provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of people who tested positive for COVID-19 stands at 73. The figure includes 17 foreign nationals.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index slumped 8.65% to 1,815, extending losses for sixth day. The index has lost 21.79% in six sessions.

Steel Authority of India (down 13.24%), Vedanta (down 12.71%), Hindustan Copper (down 12.63%), Hindalco Industries (down 12.25%), NMDC (down 11%), National Aluminium Company (down 10.25%), Hindustan Zinc (down 10%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 9.97%), JSW Steel (down 8.77%) and Tata Steel (down 2.79%) declined.

Stocks in spotlight:

Mahindra & Mahindra slumped 6.54% to Rs 422.95. M&M signed a share purchase agreement for purchase of additional 34,249 equity shares of M.I.T.R.A. Agro Equipments (Mitra), an associate of the company, from its existing shareholders. The company currently holds 26% (on a fully diluted basis) of the equity share capital of Mitra, and post completion of the above transaction, the Company will hold approximately 39% of the equity share capital of Mitra on a fully diluted basis.

Biocon tumbled 7.17% to Rs 275.15. The drug maker said the company has won a US court ruling that invalidated a Sanofi patent on the insulin Glargine, removing a key legal hurdle for commercialization of the product Semglee co-developed with Mylan, in the US.

Interglobe Aviation in a regulatory filing issued a notification regarding the impact of Coronavirus on the company. The company said in January and February 2020 it experienced modest impact from the Coronavirus. Subsequently, it cancelled flights to China and Hong Kong and reduced frequency to certain other Southeast Asia markets. This capacity was redeployed in other markets without having a material impact on our revenues However, over the past few days, the company witnessed a 15-20% decline in daily booking. The domestic budget carrier expects quarterly earnings to be materially impacted because of the decline. In addition, the rupee has also depreciated sharply which will have an adverse impact on company's dollar denominated liabilities primarily on account of capitalized operating leases. Shares of Interglobe Aviation fell 12.82% at Rs 1007.30.

SMS Pharmaceuticals lost 13.52% to Rs 29.75. The company in an exchange filing made after market hours yesterday announced the successful closure of inspection with the receipt of establishment inspection report (EIR) from United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for the inspection conducted at its active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) facility situated at Kandivalasa, Andhra Pradesh during the period 13 to 17 January 2020.

KPIT Technologies declined 8.45% to Rs 71.50. The company on Wednesday (11 March 2020) said it will acquire a majority stake in Vayavya Labs (VL), an embedded software company focused on hardware-software interface tools & methodologies. The proposed acquisition of VL will give KPIT a head start in the field of simulation and embedded software automation, across the focus practices of KPIT. It will also help in creating a differentiated positioning and a definite early mover advantage in newer opportunities in the areas of simulation. The total consideration for 100% stake will not exceed Rs 41.80 crore. Initially 78.47% stake is proposed to be purchased for a consideration of Rs 24.56 crore. The balance 21.53% stake is proposed to be acquired over a period of 2 years.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia slumped on Thursday after the United States suspended all travel from Europe in order to contain the coronavirus epidemic that has extracted a heavy human and economic toll worldwide.

Donald Trump, on Wednesday, 11 March 2020, said that the US has slapped a travel restriction from Europe to US for 30 days and the rules is said to come into effect from Friday midnight. The travel ban will affect 26 European countries which are a part of 'visa-free Schengen area.' POTUS further announced that he would ask Congress for legislative action to provide payroll tax relief, as well as other measures for several groups impacted by the virus.

On Thursday, 12 March 2020, European Central Bank is expected to announce its measures to mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus. Investors across the globe would keenly look forward to the stimulus taken up in the monetary policy meet.

Meanwhile, auto sales in China plunged 79.1% in February, marking their biggest ever monthly decline, as a coronavirus outbreak hit demand, data from the country's largest auto industry association showed on Thursday. Total auto sales in China, the world's biggest auto market, fell to 310,000 units from the same month a year earlier, declining for a twentieth straight month, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said.

In US, stocks slumped on Wednesday, with the Dow ending in bear-market territory for the first time in more than a decade, after the World Health Organization designated the global spread of COVID-19 a pandemic, unnerving investors already disappointed with the lack of an economic policy response from the Trump administration.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 62.45 points or 0.18% at 35,697.40. The Nifty 50 index shed 2.55 points or 0.02% at 10,448.90.

The broader market underperformed. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.89% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.36%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1051 shares rose and 1426 shares fell. A total of 166 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 20 stocks advanced while 30 stocks declined.

Global Markets:

European shares extended gains after the Bank of England (BoE) surprised the market on Wednesday and slashed its benchmark interest rates by 50 bps to 0.25%. BoE also announced a new term-funding scheme to support small and medium-sized companies, as well as new steps to help commercial banks lend more. The announcement follows a similar decision by the US Federal Reserve last week.

Asian markets fell across the board on Wednesday as investors continue to track developments around government stimulus with the coronavirus continuing to spread.

Concerns surrounding the global coronavirus outbreak have sent markets on a roller-coaster ride in recent days. The disease has infected at least 119,284 and has taken 4,300 lives so far, according to the latest figures from the World Health Organization.

In US, stocks closed sharply higher on Tuesday after a volatile session that restored about half of the losses seen Monday when stocks saw the biggest one day fall since the 2008 financial crisis.

Tuesday's rebound was partly fueled by a White House push to persuade Congress to agree to a fiscal stimulus package that may include a payroll tax cut to mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty PSU Bank index fell 3.37% to 1,631.50. The index has lost 13.76% in the past three sessions.

Corporation Bank (down 9.16%), Bank of Baroda (down 4.61%), Syndicate Bank (down 4.24%), Indian Bank (down 4.13%), Canara Bank (down 3.96%), Bank of India (down 3.84%), State Bank of India (down 3.63%), Punjab National Bank (down 3.27%), Union Bank of India (down 2.95%), Andhra Bank (down 1.36%), United Bank of India (down 0.56%) and Central Bank of India (down 0.36%) declined.

Punjab & Sind Bank (up 3.86%), IDBI Bank (up 2.58%), Bank of Maharashtra (up 1.69%), UCO Bank (up 0.7%) and Allahabad Bank (up 0.11%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Asian Paints advanced 0.96% to Rs 1887.40. The paint maker's promoters have released pledge on 1.39 crore shares, representing 1.45% shareholding in the company.

JSW Steel fell 2.69% to Rs 222.85. The company said its crude steel production was up 5% to 13.20 lakh tonnes in February 2020 from 12.57 lakh tonnes in February 2019. The production of flat rolled products rose 7% to 9.82 lakh tonnes in February 2020. Production of long rolled products remained muted at 3.08 lakh tonnes.

Infosys lost 3.16% to Rs 681.65. The IT major announced that it has joined the Qualcomm Smart Cities Accelerator Program to offer end-to-end solutions for smart stadiums, smart venues and smart event management. This program is designed to connect cities, municipalities, government agencies, and enterprises with Qualcomm Technologies' ecosystem to help deliver greater efficiencies, cost savings, and broad access to solutions for smart cities' problems today.

HBL Power Systems surged 15.13% to Rs 15.60. The company has received order worth Rs 70 crore from South Central Railways for train collision avoidance systems. It also has received order valued Rs 85 crore for seven submarine propulsion batteries from Indian Navy. The company has received export orders worth $3.6 million for supply of lithium thermal batteries to be completed over the next 18 months.

Indian Hume Pipe Company rose 3.17% to Rs 169.40 after the company received a letter of acceptance (LoA) for the work of Rs 357.53 crore from Madurai City Municipal Corporation, Madurai, Tamil Nadu.

ABB India shed 2.37% to Rs 1100. The company informed that its board approved the sale of its solar inverter business on slump sale basis to Marici Solar India for value of Rs 100.6 crore. The company's board, on 9 July 2019, had granted in-principle approval for sale of company's solar inverter business to the Italian company, FIMER S.p.A. The board's stake sale decision is in line with ABB Group's strategy of ongoing systematic portfolio management to strengthen competitiveness, focus on quality of revenue and higher growth segments.

RBL Bank jumped 10.23% to Rs 229.05 after the bank clarified that it is well capitalized, financial strong and boasts a healthy liquidity ratio. The bank said it has capital adequacy ratio of 16.08% with Tier-1 at 15.02% which is significantly higher than the prescribed regulatory requirement at 11.5% and 9.5% respectively. The bank also said there has been no material adverse change in the asset quality since Q3 December 2019 and the bank's growth guidance remains consistent.

Welspun Corp slipped 3.50% at Rs 120.05. The company announced that it has secured a major offshore pipes supply contract in Australia for the Barossa offshore Development project from Allseas Marine Contractors Australia PTY. The contract scope comprises manufacturing & supply of 270 km (87 KMT) pipes for critical offshore application.

The Nifty is down 15.92% from its record high of 12,430.50 hit on 20 January 2020.

Global stock markets witnessed a selloff amid a plunge in crude oil prices after OPEC failed to strike a deal with its allies on production cuts, adding to volatility already brought about by fears surrounding the coronavirus spread. Oil price crash is a worrying sign for the health of the world economy. Investor sentiments also turned weak amid the ongoing crisis at Yes Bank, which can impact the financial sector as a whole.

Meanwhile, the media reported that the number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 43 on Monday with four people, including a three-year-old child in Kerala who had returned from Italy, testing positive for the disease.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 4.73% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 4.20%. The fall in both these indices was lesser than the fall in the Sensex.

Sellers outpaced buyers. On the BSE, 360 shares rose and 2193 shares fell. A total of 172 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 4 stocks advanced while 46 stocks declined.

Domestic stock markets will remain closed on Tuesday, 10 March 2020 on account of Holi.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index tumbled 7.42% to 2,021.90, declining the most among the other sectoral indices on the NSE.

Vedanta (down 14.31%), NMDC (down 10.65%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 10.22%), Steel Authority of India (down 9.71%), Tata Steel (down 8.3%), National Aluminium Company (down 6.2%), Hindustan Copper (down 4.48%), JSW Steel (down 4.33%), Hindalco Industries (down 4.16%) and Hindustan Zinc (down 2.63%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

As many as 836 stocks hit fresh 52-week lows on the BSE, which included names like Adani Ports And Special Economic Zone (down 5.27%), ACC (down 5.04%), Axis Bank (down 5.56%), Bandhan Bank (down 6.67%), Coal India (down 6.72%), Force Motors (down 4.64%), Grasim Industries (down 4.56%), Hero Motocorp (down 3.93%), Hindalco Industries (down 5%), JSW Energy (down 11.58%), Kalpataru Power Transmission (down 11.06%), Larsen & Toubro (down 5%), Reliance Industries (down 13%), Tata Motors (down 8.18%), Thermax (up 0.03%) and Welspun India (down 7.61%).

State Bank of India (SBI) tanked 6.88% to Rs 251.85. The RBI released the draft of Scheme of Reconstruction of Yes Bank. Accordingly, SBI will be issued 245 crore shares at a price of Rs 10 per share for Rs 2450 crore. This will be 49% of the share capital of the reconstructed bank. SBI shall not reduce its holding below 26% before completion of three years from the date of infusion of the capital.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) soared 4.29% to Rs 420.15 after the Government of India (GOI) invited bids for its entire 52.98% stake. The GOI has set firms with a minimum net worth of $10 billion as one of the primary criterias in its Expression of Interest (EoI) for BPCL. An expression of interest is an informal offer made by a strategic or financial buyer for the purchase of a business.

IndusInd Bank dived 11.96% to Rs 893. The bank deferred its plan to raise funds through additional tier-1 (AT-1) and / or tier 2 capital (T2 Bonds) of the bank.

Biocon fell 3.18% to Rs 299.95. The company informed that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted Mylan's biologics license application for MYL-1402O, a proposed biosimilar to Avastin (bevacizumab), for review. The FDA goal date set under the Biosimilar User Fee Act (BsUFA) is 27 December 2020. Biocon and Mylan's proposed biosimilar bevacizumab is expected to be the third biosimilar from the partnered portfolio for the cancer patients in the U.S. It is currently available in India and other developing markets.

PNB Housing Finance (PNBHF) tanked 14% to Rs 258. India Ratings and Research downgraded the company's non-convertible debentures (NCDs) rating to IND AA from IND AA. The rating agency has maintained stable outlook on the housing financier's NCDs worth Rs 218.97 crore (reduced from Rs 280 crore).

Hikal shed 6.78% to Rs 108. The company received a notice from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board for closure of its Mahad Unit based on a complaint from the local community in Taloja. The company has filed a writ petition for staying the order in the Bombay High Court , but warned of a possibility of some impact on its operations at Mahad site until the matter is resolved.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia plunged on Monday as S&P, Dow and Nasdaq futures entered a free fall amid a dramatic oil market crash and concerns over the coronavirus-hit global economy slowdown.

Wall Street is set to continue last week's slump as Dow futures pointed to 1256 point opening drop on Monday.

Oil prices plunged more than 30% after OPEC's failure to strike a deal with its allies regarding production cuts caused Saudi Arabia to slash its prices as it gets set to ramp up production. That's led to fears of an all-out price war.

Coronavirus continues to dominate market sentiment too. More than 106,000 people have now been infected by the virus and more than 3,600 have died globally, according to the latest figures from the World Health Organization. U.S. cases have now topped 500 and at least 21 deaths have been reported.

Meanwhile, the number of confirmed cases in Germany jumped by more than 100 over the weekend and is now up to nearly 800. Italy remains the European country with the worst outbreak, with over 7,000 cases. The U.K. government is holding an emergency meeting Monday to discuss further measures to halt the spread of the virus.

China reported Saturday that its exports fell 17% and imports were off 4% from a year earlier in January and February combined after Beijing shut factories, offices and shops in the most severe anti-disease measures ever imposed.

Investors are looking ahead to a meeting Thursday of the European Central Bank, which is widely expected to announce new stimulus measures.

In US, stocks fell on Friday as fears of economic damage from the spread of the coronavirus intensified.

The barometer BSE S&P Sensex plunged 893.99 points or 2.32% to 37,576.62, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index plummeted 289.45 points or 2.57% to 10,979.55, as per the provisional closing data.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index tumbled 2.36% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 1.92%.

The market breadth favored the seller. On the BSE, 476 shares rose and 1934 shares fell. A total of 124 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, the market breadth was negative with 5 stocks advancing and 45 stocks declining.

Yes Bank Fiasco:

Yes Bank slumped 56.17% to Rs 16.15 after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) superseded the board of Yes Bank and imposed a month-long moratorium. Yes Bank was placed under a moratorium on late Thursday (5 March 2020), with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) capping depositor's withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account for a month.

Shares of Yes Bank witnessed massive volatility amid huge volumes after it was placed under a moratorium. On BSE, 10.63 crore shares were traded in Yes Bank counter, compared to a 2-week average of 1.21 crore shares. After opening at Rs 33.15, the stock slumped as much as 84.65% to hit the day's low of Rs 5.65 in mid-morning trade. However, buying emerged at lower levels and pushed the stock above Rs 16.

RBI assured the depositors of the bank that their interest will be fully protected and there is no need to panic. RBI said it will explore and draw up a scheme in the next few days for the bank's reconstruction or amalgamation and with the approval of the central government, put the same in place well before the period of moratorium of thirty days ends so that the depositors are not put to hardship for a long period of time, it added.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said that Reserve Bank of India is working towards for early resolution of Yes Bank issue. RBI governor has assured that here will be no loss to any Yes Bank depositor, the finance minister said, adding that the steps taken to take control of Yes Bank is in interest of depositors, bank and the economy.

Mutual fund (MF) houses have been reducing their equity exposure to Yes Bank. Their total exposure to the private lender as on 31 January 2020 stood at Rs 611.6 crore, down by 15.61% from Rs 724.69 crore as on 31 December 2019.

The mutual fund schemes having an equity exposure of more than 1% of its AUM to Yes Bank as on 31 January 2020 are DSP Equal Nifty 50 Fund (G) (1.6%), ICICI Pru Private Banks ETF (1.33%), Tata Nifty Private Bank ETF (1.3%), Nippon India ETF Sensex Next 50 (1.07%), SBI ETF Sensex Next 50 (1.07%) and UTI-S&P BSE Sensex Next 50 ETF (1.07%). The mutual fund house having maximum equity exposure (in value terms) to Yes Bank as on 31 January 2020 is HDFC Mutual Fund with an exposure of Rs 226.97 crore, followed by SBI Mutual Fund (Rs 152.83 crore), Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund (Rs 62.6 crore), Nippon India Mutual Fund (Rs 61.21 crore) and Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund (Rs 35.75 crore).

Mutual fund (MF) houses have been reducing their debt exposure to Yes Bank. Their total exposure to the private lender as on 31 January 2020 stood at Rs 2819.08 crore, down by 2.18% from Rs 2882.08 crore as on 31 December 2019.

MF scheme with maximum debt exposure to Yes Bank as on 31 January 2020 is Nippon India Equity Hybrid Fund (G) with an exposure of Rs 637.85 crore, followed by Nippon India Credit Risk Fund (G) (Rs 540.1 crore), Nippon India Strategic Debt Fund (G) (Rs 436.33 crore), Franklin India Short Term Income (G) (Rs 281.09 crore) and Rs Franklin India Credit Risk Fund (G) (Rs 135.24 crore). The fund house having maximum debt exposure to Yes Bank as on 31 January 2020 is Nippon Life Asset Management with a total exposure of Rs 1806.28 crore, followed by Franklin Templeton Asset Management (I) (Rs 475.72 crore), UTI Asset Management Company (Rs 336.67 crore), Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company (Rs 93.84 crore) and Baroda Asset Management Company (Rs 53.68 crore).

Meanwhile, ratings agency Moody's Investors Service reportedly said on Friday that RBI's moratorium and withdrawal cap on Yes Bank is credit negative, and the lack of coordinated action highlights continued uncertainty around bank resolutions.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Bank index slumped 3.59% to 27,781.15, following the Yes Bank saga.

RBL Bank (down 14.03%), IndusInd Bank (down 6.14%), Federal Bank (down 3.79%), ICICI Bank (down 3.69%), Axis Bank (down 2.93%), HDFC Bank (down 1.69%) and Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 1.04%) were top losers in private sector bank segment.

Canara Bank (down 6.92%), SBI (down 6.74%), Union Bank of India (down 6.61%), Bank of India (down 5.6%), Punjab National Bank (down 5.57%), Syndicate Bank (down 3.57%) and Bank of Baroda (down 2.72%) were top losers in PSU Bank segment.

Stocks in Spotlight:

State Bank of India (SBI) tumbled 6.74%. SBI said that the matter regarding buying stake in Yes Bank was discussed at the meeting of the central board of the bank on 5 March 2020 and an in-principle approval has been given by the board to explore investment opportunity in the bank.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) said its production fell 55.96% to 25,643 units in February 2020 from 58,231 units in February 2019. The company reported 43.02% drop in sales to 30,083 units in February 2020 from 52,799 units in February 2019. Exports slumped 40.67% to 1,831 units in February 2020 from 3,086 units in February 2019. Shares of M&M were trading 1.61% lower at Rs 471.55.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories fell 0.43% to Rs 3,167.20 after the US drug regulator issued a Form 483 with three observations to the drug major's API manufacturing plant in Telangana. The pharmaceutical company assured that it will address all three observations comprehensively within the stipulated timeline.

Lupin announced the launch of the authorized generic for Horizon Therapeutics PLC's Vimovo delayed release tablets, (375 mg/20 mg and 500 mg/20 mg) in the United States (US). The product is a combination of naproxen, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), and esomeprazole magnesium. The product decreases the risk of developing naproxen-associated gastric ulcers. Shares of Lupin were down 2.19% at Rs 661.60.

Global Markets:

Wall Street is set to continue wild week as Dow futures point to 525 point opening drop on Friday.

Shares in Europe and Asia fell across the board following another Wall Street rout as disruptions to global business from the coronavirus beyond China worsened, stoking fears of a prolonged world economic slowdown.

In US, stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday as anxieties about the worldwide spread of COVID-19 lingered and concerns about the ability of governments to control the impact of the disease on their economies sent the benchmark US Treasury note yield to a fresh all-time low

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 61.13 points or 0.16% at 38,470.61. The Nifty 50 index advanced 18 points or 0.16% at 11,269. Trading was volatile due to expiry of weekly index options on the NSE.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.31% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.29%.

The market breadth favored the seller. On the BSE, 1194 shares rose and 1217 shares fell. A total of 175 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, the market breadth was positive with 29 stocks advancing and 21 stocks declining.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index fell 0.90% to 2,283.45, extended losses for second day. The index has lost 1.61% in the past two sessions.

Hindalco Industries (down 3.11%), National Aluminium Company (down 2.14%), Vedanta (down 1.89%), Steel Authority of India (down 1.87%), Tata Steel (down 0.48%) , NMDC (down 0.21%) and Jindal Steel & Power (down 0.16%) declined.

Hindustan Copper (up 3.56%), JSW Steel (up 0.67%) and Hindustan Zinc (up 0.38%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Yes Bank surged 25.60% to Rs 36.80. State Bank of India (SBI) advanced 0.89% to Rs 287.85. The media reported that the government may ask State Bank of India (SBI) to lead a consortium that will buy stake in the private lender. The PSU bank has also been authorised to pick other members of the consortium, added reports.

Yes Bank clarified in afternoon today (5 March) that it has not received any communication from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) or any other government or regulatory authorities or from SBI and hence the bank is unaware of any such decision. The bank further said it is in its usual course of business to explore various means of raising capital/ funds through issuance of securities to diverse set of investors to meet its business/ regulatory requirements.

Separately, SBI clarified today that it abides by the timelines under regulation of disclosing the developments, if any in the matter to stock exchanges.

Earlier in January 2020, State Bank of India chairman Rajnish Kumar said, Yes Bank is a significant player in the market with an almost $40 billion balance sheet.” He further added, I have a feeling that it will not be allowed to fail because a bank of that size, if it is allowed to fail, there's a problem.

Reliance Industries (RIL) slipped 2.25% to Rs 1309. RIL informed that its subsidiary Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL) has acquired 7,86,191 equity shares representing 100% of the equity share capital of Shri Kannan Departmental Store (SKDS). The stake acquisition is for a consideration of Rs 152.5 crore.

Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) rose 0.8% to Rs 478.35. M&M said the operations of the company in March, 2020 have been impacted due to supply disruptions of certain critical components for production of BS-VI vehicles on account of outbreak of Coronavirus in China and fire at a plant of a major supplier which is estimated to result into reduction in production / sales volume of the company (Automotive Division) and Mahindra Vehicle Manufacturer, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, by around 12,000 units in the month of March, 2020.

Maruti Suzuki India lost 0.32% to Rs 6364.10. The company partnered with HDB Financial Service, a leading NonBanking Financial Company, to provide customized and attractive car loans for customers. The tie up will facilitate loans for both new and used cars.

HDFC fell 0.67% to Rs 2189. The housing financier reduced its retail prime lending rate on housing loans by 5 basis points with effect from 9 March 2020. The change will benefit all existing HDFC retail home loan customers.

Granules India rose 3.21 % to Rs 178.55. the drug maker in a regulatory filing during market hours today (5 March) announced that the US Food & Drug Administration (US FDA) has approved the Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) filed by company's wholly owned foreign subsidiary, for Potassium Chloride extended-release tablets USP, of 600 mg and 750 mg.

The drug is bioequivalent of Klor-Con extended-release tablets of Upsher-Smith Laboratories, LLC. It is used for the treatment and prophylaxis of hypokalemia with or without metabolic alkalosis, in patients for whom dietary management with potassium-rich foods or diuretic dose reduction is insufficient. According to IQVIA Health, Klor-Con brand and generic had US sales of approximately $54 million MAT for the most recent twelve months ending in December 2019.

BASF India jumped 4.97% to Rs 1205. The chemical maker on Wednesday (4 March) said it received further demand notices from the Commercial Tax Department, Karnataka. In October last year, BASF India had received demand notices from Commercial Tax Department, Karnataka for the periods 2006-2010, 2010-11 (2 months), 2014-15 by treating the stock transfers of the company's Mangalore plant as interstate sales to dealers and its subsequent stay granted by the Karnataka Appellate Tribunal. The company has now received demand notices for the further periods i.e. 2010-13 from the Commercial Tax Department, Karnataka aggregating to Rs 211.25 crore (including interest & penalty) by treating the stock transfers of its Mangalore plant as interstate sales to dealers. The company has also received a Notice for Rs 46.39 crore (including interest & penalty) for the period 2015-16 from Commercial Tax Department, Karnataka.

Global Markets:

European markets reversed early gains while most Asian stocks ended higher on Thursday after an emergency US spending bill to combat the impact of the coronavirus added to signs of support from policy makers around the world.

As of Wednesday, all levels of finance ministries in China have allocated 110.48 billion yuan ($16 billion) for virus prevention and control, Vice Finance Minister Xu Hongcai said at a press conference. China reported 139 new confirmed cases on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced a $50 billion aid package on Wednesday to combat the impact of the coronavirus. Most of the money will be interest-free, and countries do not need to have a pre-existing program with the IMF to participate.

In US, stocks soared on Wednesday, as investors warmed to the Federal Reserve's surprise interest rate cut and support from other central banks, as well as former Vice President Joe Biden emerging as the frontrunner of the Democratic Party's presidential race.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average skyrocketed 1,173.45 points higher to close at 27,090.86 — its second-highest point gain ever, and the second time in three days that the 30-stock average swung 1,000 points or higher.