Benchmark domestic stocks surge around 2 per cent despite negative global cues

Benchmark domestic stocks today surged around two per cent even as the global cues were negative. The BSE Sensex regained 50,000 mark while the NSE Nifty closed near 15,000 level. The Sensex gained 1030.28 points, or 2.07 per cent, to finish at 50,781.69. The Nifty also rose 274.20 points, or 1.86 per cent, to end at 14,982. The Bank Nifty closed 1,335.35 points, or 3.80 per cent, high at 36,452.30.

The broader market at BSE also climbed but underperformed the Sensex. The BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.77 per cent while the BSE Small-Cap index appreciated 1.08 per cent.

During the session the National Stock Exchange halted its trading at 11:40 am due to a technical glitch. Later the trading resumed at 3:30 pm. considering the shortened time of trading due to the glitch the BSE and the NSE both extended trading time for 90 minutes till 5 pm.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1782 shares rose and 1124 shares fell. On the Nifty 50 index, 36 shares advanced and 14 shares declined. The top five gainers on the Nifty 50 index were HDFC Bank (up 5.36 per cent), Coal India (up 5.26 per cent), Axis Bank (up 5.15 per cent), ICICI Bank (up 3.85 per cent) and Bajaj Finance (up 3.22 per cent). The top five losers were UPL (down 2.01 per cent), Power Grid (down 1.48 per cent), Dr Reddy's (down 1.43 per cent), JSW Steel (down 1.32 per cent) and TCS (down 1.12 per cent).

Indian Economy

The Union Cabinet has approved Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Pharmaceuticals over a period of Financial Year 2020-21 to 2028-29.The Scheme will benefit domestic manufacturers, help in creating employment and is expected to contribute to the availability of a wider range of affordable medicines for consumers. The scheme is expected to promote the production of high value products in the country and increase the value addition in exports. Under the scheme, a total incremental sales of Rs 2,94,000 crore and total incremental exports of Rs 1,96,000 crore are estimated during six years from 2022-23 to 2027-28.

The US Support to the Economy

Fed Chair Jerome Powell indicated that the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) was nowhere close to pulling back on its support from the economy as it will still take some time for it to achieve the employment and inflation goals. He added that inflation is still 'soft' and that the Fed is committed to current policy.

The Conference Board released a report showing consumer confidence has improved more than expected in the month of February. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index rose to 91.3 in February from a downwardly revised 88.9 in January. Bullish exports and solid construction activity helped the German economy to grow by a stronger-than-expected 0.3 per cent in the final quarter of last year, the Federal Statistics Office said on Wednesday, revising an earlier estimate.

The office, which previously had reported a 0.1 per cent expansion in the quarter from October to December, said it also revised upward its 2020 full-year GDP figure for Europe's largest economy to -4.9 per cent from -5.0 per cent. Adjusted for calendar effects, the economy last year shrank by 5.3 per cent, which was a much smaller contraction than many other European countries recorded, mainly due to a strong fiscal response of Chancellor Angela Merkel's government to the Covid-19 pandemic.