Sensex, Nifty Post Lowest Weekly Loss In Five Weeks

• Nifty down 1 percent; down for sixth straight week
• Sensex down 0.34 percent; down for sixth straight week
• Nifty Bank down 1.7 percent; down for fifth straight week
• Nifty Midcap index down 7 percent; down for fifth straight week
• Nifty Smallcap index down 8.2 percent; down for fifth straight week

Sectoral Indices

• Nifty Auto down 8 percent; down for seventh straight week
• Nifty FMCG down 0.7 percent; down for seventh straight week
• Nifty I.T. up 1.7 percent; snaps two-week losing streak
• Nifty Pharma down 2 percent; down for third straight week
• Nifty Metal down 8.1 percent; down for seventh straight week
• Nifty Media down 6.5 percent; down for fifth straight week
• Nifty PSU Bank down 8.4 percent; down for seventh straight week
• Nifty Realty down 5.8 percent; down for seventh straight week

Indian equity markets ended a volatile session mixed, after fluctuating for most parts of the day between gains and losses. Benchmarks turned volatile after the Monetary Policy Committee cut repo rate by 75 basis points, reverse repo by 90 basis points and CRR by 100 basis points.

The S&P BSE Sensex snapped a three-day winning streak to end 0.44 percent lower at 29,815. The index was down 0.34 percent this week, recovering most of Monday's 13 percent fall.

The NSE Nifty 50 managed to eke out minor gains, ending higher for the fourth straight day. The index closed 0.22 percent higher at 8,660. The index posted a weekly drop of 1 percent.

Both the Sensex and Nifty reported their sixth straight weekly loss, the longest weekly losing streak since July 2008.

Among Sectoral Indices, the Nifty Auto, Nifty Media and Nifty Realty index ended with losses while the rest eked out minor gains.

996 stocks ended the session with gains while 786 stocks ended with losses.

Tata Motors Ltd. plans to separate its cars business from trucks and business, including an Electric Vehicles business into a separate subsidiary through a scheme of arrangement.

This shall help provide differentiated focus for the PV and CV business and help each of them realise their potential, the company said in an exchange filing.

Implementation of the scheme will be subject to regulatory and statutory approvals.

The stock currently trades 0.5 percent lower at Rs 70.40 on the National Stock Exchange.

• Nifty futures add 11.9 percent in open interest and 11.87 lakh shares
• Nifty Bank futures add 35 percent in open interest and 2.54 lakh shares

Nifty: April 1 Expiry

• 9,000 Call: Premium up 9.8 percent to Rs 190.15. The contract has added 1.86 lakh shares in open interest.
• 9,500 Call: Premium up 22.44 percent to Rs 58.65. The contract has added 7.1 lakh shares in open interest.
• 10,000 Call: Premium up 23.2 percent to Rs 21.20. The contract has added 9.5 lakh shares in open interest.

Nifty Bank: April 1 Expiry

• 22,000 Call: Premium up 82.44 percent to Rs 298.20. The contract has added 1.2 lakh shares in open interest.
• 23,000 Call: Premium up 107.2 percent to Rs 166.90. The contract has added 78,800 shares in open interest.
• 24,000 Call: Premium up 64.77 percent to Rs 82.55. The contract has added 1.65 lakh shares in open interest.

Shares of the financial services provider fell as much as 10 percent to Rs 2,514 on the National Stock Exchange after brokerage firm Bernstein downgraded the stock to underperform from outperform. It has also cut its price target to Rs 1,740 from 4,820.

Some of the key highlights from the Bernstein note are:

• Unsecured consumer financing business would become challenging in the current pandemic environment
• Uncertain to project how long restrictions from the government would last beyond 21 days
• Expect FY21 to be a year of consolidation with loan growth recovering only marginally in the second half
• Expect credit costs to escalate by 100 bps
• Compress valuation multiples to 15x earnings

• Nifty up 1 percent at 8,727
• Sensex up 0.3 percent at 30,035
• Nifty Bank up 3 percent at 20,179
• Nifty Midcap index down 0.8 percent
• Nifty Smallcap index up 0.7 percent
• India Volatility Index down 0.4 percent at 71.27
• Auto, Media and Realty indices trade with losses
• FMCG, PSU Bank index gain over 1 percent
• Axis Bank remains top Nifty gainer, up 10.2 percent
• Bajaj Finance top Nifty laggard; down 6 percent
• 1,002 stocks are advancing while 733 stocks trade with losses

European benchmarks opened lower led by weakness in U.S. Futures. European lenders are struggling to agree on a concrete strategy to contain the fallout from the Coronavirus.

Benchmarks across Spain, Germany, France and the U.K. opened with losses.

• Euro Stoxx 50 down 1.91 percent at 2,794
• DAX down 1.81 percent at 9,820
• CAC down 1.74 percent at 4,464
• FTSE 100 down 3.1 percent at 5,636
• IBEX 35 down 1.66 percent at 6,916

• Stock down for second straight day
• Trades at lowest level since January 2017
• Down for nine out of last ten sessions
• Down 34 percent in the last 10 sessions
• Monday's fall was the biggest ever since 2011
• 17 out of the 27 analysts tracking the stock have a 'buy' recommendation, as per Bloomberg, while 3 analysts have 'sell' recommendations.
• Return potential as per bloomberg now at 78 percent
• Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 17. A reading below 30 indicates the stock is in oversold territory.

Shares of the sugar company are locked in an upper circuit of 10 percent for the second straight day. Shares are up for the third day in a row.

The company in a statement on Thursday said that ICICI Bank has invested a sum of Rs 51 crore to acquire a 9.9 percent stake in its NBFC arm Auxilo Finserv.

The stock has seen its best three-day returns since October 2018.

Shares of the private lender are up for the third straight day today.

The stock has seen a rise of 27 percent in the last three session alone, after Monday’s 28 percent plunge, which was its worst single-day drop in history.

It now trades higher by 13 percent, after gaining as much as 20 percent earlier. This is the biggest one-day move seen by the stock since 2013.

• Nifty up 0.8 percent at 8,715
• Sensex up 0.1 percent at 29,972
• Nifty Bank up 4.2 percent at 20,440
• Nifty Midcap index down 0.1 percent
• Nifty Smallcap index up 1.3 percent
• Auto, FMCG and I.T. index give up gains to turn negative
• Nifty Realty 6 percent off highs to trade flat
• Nifty Metal, Nifty Pharma hold on to 1 percent gains
• India Volatility Index off day's low; down 1.1 percent to 70.72
• Axis Bank top Nifty gainer; up 15 percent
• Bharti Airtel, HCL Tech top laggards; down 4 percent each
• 1,049 stocks are advancing while 627 stocks trade with losses

Shares of Manappuram Finance Ltd. and Muthoot Finance Ltd. are up for the fourth straight day today.

While Manappuram Finance has surged close to 40 percent in the last four sessions, Muthoot Finance has gained 25 percent during the same period.

Both stocks fell 18 percent each in Monday’s trading session. While Manappuram saw its biggest fall since 2013, it was the biggest fall on record for Muthoot Finance.

• Nifty futures add 7.4 percent in open interest and 7.4 lakh shares
• Nifty Bank adds 19.4 percent in open interest and 1.42 lakh shares

Nifty: April 1 Expiry

• 10,000 Call: Premium up 184 percent to Rs 48.85. The contract has added 4.43 lakh shares in open interest.
• 9,000 Call: Premium up 57.65 percent to Rs 273.20. The contract has added 1.75 lakh shares in open interest.
• 9,500 Call: Premium up 128.1 percent to Rs 109.30. The contract has added 4.5 lakh shares in open interest.

Nifty Bank: April 1 Expiry

• 22,000 Call: Premium up 278.1 percent to Rs 618. The contract has added 43,600 shares in open interest.
• 23,000 Call: Premium up 364.3 percent to Rs 374. The contract has added 52,460 shares in open interest.
• 21,000 Call: Premium rises 165.5 percent to Rs 1,020. The contract has added 30,880 shares in open interest.

Shares of the power-supplying PSU rose as much as 4 percent to Rs 82.85 on the National Stock Exchange.

The company executed a share purchase agreements to acquire 100 percent stake in NEEPCO for Rs 4,000 crore and a 75 percent stake in THDCIL for Rs 7,500 crore. Both transactions are likely to be completed before March 31.

Calling the deal 'value accretive,' brokerage firm Emkay maintained its buy rating on the stock with a price target of Rs 146, adding that the decline in demand due to the 21-day lockdown will not have a negative impact on the company.

Share prices have fallen 50 percent from its 52-week high of Rs 145.85 in July 2019.

India’s Monetary Policy Committee cut repo rates by 75 basis points after it unanimously voted for a sizable reduction in interest rates. The MPC has also maintained its accomodative stance. Reverse Repo Rate was also cut by 90 basis points.

“There is a rising probability that large parts of the world will slip into a recession,” RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said in a media briefing, adding that the RBI is in ‘battle ready’ mode to fight the Coronavirus outbreak using conventional and unconventional modes.

The rupee strengthened further while yields on the 10-year bond fell 23 basis points to 6 percent post the announcement.

• Nifty up 3.5 percent at 8,950
• Sensex up 3.1 percent at 30,873
• Nifty Bank up 7.7 percent at 21,135
• Nifty Midcap index up 4 percent
• Nifty Smallcap index up 5.1 percent
• India Volatility Index falls 7.7 percent to 66
• All sectoral indices trade with gains
• Nifty Bank and Nifty PSU Bank up 8 percent each
• Nifty Media, Metal and Pharma gain 4 percent each
• Nifty I.T. and Nifty FMCG gain over 2 percent
• Nifty Realty up 6.3 percent. The index has now gained over 13 percent in two sessions.
• 1,356 stocks are advancing while 233 stocks trade with declines

Bharat Forge Ltd. hosted a conference call where it said that it expects a deferment of its growth plans for the next 10-12 months.

The company also warned of a hit to its Q4FY20 performance as significant consignments are stuck at the ports due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Some of the other highlights of the conference call include:

• U.S. class 8 truck sales likely to decline 10-15 percent next year
• Most clients likely to resume operations from mid-April
• All international plants to be shut down from today
• Continue to cut costs related to manpower
• Overseas subsidiaries would have made a profit with positive cashflows had there not been a Covid-19 outbreak.

Shares fell as much as 10 percent to Rs 255.40 after rising as much as 9.2 percent to Rs 310 on the National Stock Exchange.

Shares of the private insurance player fell as much as 7.6 percent to Rs 441 in opening trade. 2.5 percent of the company's equity exchanged hands in two large trades, as per Bloomberg data.

Buyers and sellers of the trade were not immediately known. Company's promoter Standard Life was looking to sell 5 crore shares at a price band of Rs 431 - Rs 448 per share.

Prices have recovered from the day's low to trade 0.3 percent lower at Rs 475.85.

Indian equity markets opened higher for the fourth day in a row, tracking positive cues from Wall Street and despite mixed cues emerging from the Asia Pacific.

The S&P BSE Sensex gained 2.67 percent on open to 30,747. The index reclaimed the 30,000 mark for the first time in seven trading sessions.

The NSE Nifty 50 index too opened with gains of 3.56 percent at 8,949. The index is set to reclaim the mark of 9,000 for the first time in nine trading sessions. All but one stock on the Nifty 50, opened with gains.

The Indian currency opened stronger for the second straight day, tracking weakness in the dollar and positive cues from emerging markets.

The rupee opened at 74.48 as compared to Thursday's close of 75.15 against the U.S. dollar.

Part of the strength can also be attributed to the anticipation ahead of RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das' media briefing scheduled for 10 a.m.

• Sell HCL Tech for target of Rs 400 and stop loss of Rs 440
• Sell Hero Motocorp for target of Rs 1,680 and stop loss of Rs 1,900

• HDFC Life: Promoter Standard Life to offer up to 5 crore shares between Rs 431 to Rs 448. Price range is a discount of 6-10 percent to Thursday's closing.
• Tata Motors: Moody's places Ba3 corporate family rating and Ba3 senior unsecured debt rating under review for a downgrade.
• NTPC: Executes share purchase agreement to buy 100 percent stake in NEEPCO from the Government of India for Rs 4,000 crore.
• Yes Bank: Approves fund raising of Rs 5,000 crore in one or more tranches
• Balrampur Chini: ICICI Bank invests Rs 51 crore in the company's NBFC arm Auxilo Finserv for 9.9 percent stake.

Find out all that you need to know going into today’s trading session here.

• Benchmark indices rallied for the third day in a row after the Congress passed the $2 trillion stimulus package to blunt the Coronavirus impact.
• The S&P 500 posted its first three-day rally since mid-February, ending near the session's high with gains of 6 percent.
• The Dow Jones saw its biggest three-day move since 1931. The index is now 21 percent higher from its March 23 low.
• U.S. Jobless claims surged to a record 3.28 million last week as businesses shut down to prevent the spread of the virus.
• U.S. surpassed Italy in the number of cases for the Coronavirus and is poised to surpass the epicentre China as well.

Get your daily fix on the global markets here.

The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, rose 1.14 percent to 8,740 as of 7:55 a.m.

Asian markets are off the highest point of the day as U.S. futures turned negative after their first three-day rally since mid-February.

Markets in Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea gained between 1-2 percent while Australian markets gave up gains to trade with losses. The dollar has stabilised after a three-day fall while treasuries were steady.

Short on time? Well, then listen to this podcast for a quick summary of All You Need To Know before the opening bell.