Barometers trades with small gains

The domestic equities were trading with minor gains in afternoon trade. At 13:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 17.59 points or 0.04% at 47,967.01. The Nifty 50 index gained 17.95 points or 0.13% at 14,377.40.

Bajaj Finance (up 3.60%), Larsen & Toubro (up 1.85%) and ICICI Bank (up 0.54%) boosted the indices.

The broader market outperformed the benchmarks. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index advanced 1.19%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 1.02%.

Buyers outnumbered sellers. On the BSE, 1,804 shares rose and 956 shares fell. A total of 161 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,633.70 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 2,355.56 crore in the Indian equity market on 19 April 2021, provisional data showed.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 14,21,12,632 with 30,30,299 deaths. India reported 20,31,977 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,80,530 deaths while 1,31,08,582 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

PM Narendra Modi announced an important decision of allowing vaccination to everyone above the age of 18 from 1 May 2021 has been taken. PM Modi said that the Government has been working hard from over a year to ensure that maximum numbers of Indians are able to get the vaccine in the shortest possible of time. He added that India is vaccinating people at world record pace & we will continue this with even greater momentum.

Phase-I of the National COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy was launched on 16 January 2021, prioritizing protection for our protectors, our Health Care Workers (HCWs) and Front Line Workers (FLWs). As systems and processes stabilized, Phase-II was initiated from 1 March 2021 and 1 April 2021, focusing on protecting our most vulnerable i.e. all people above 45 years of age, accounting for more than 80% COVID-19 mortality in the country.

Economy:

The Reserve Bank of India on 19 April said it has decided against activating the countercyclical capital buffer (CCyB) framework as the current situation does not warrant such an action.

The RBI had in February 2005 put in place CCyB guidelines with the overall objective of strengthening the banking sector. It was envisaged that the CCyB would be activated as and when the circumstances warranted.

"Based on the review and empirical testing of CCyB indicators, it has been decided that it is not necessary to activate CCyB at this point in time," the RBI said in a release.

Gainers & Losers:

Dr Reddy`s Laboratories (up 4.16%), Bajaj Finserv (up 3.66%), Bajaj Finance (up 3.60%), IndusInd Bank (up 3.37%) and Tata Consumer Products (up 2.91%) were major gainers in Nifty 50 index.

HCL Technologies (down 2.64%), Ultratech Cement Co (down 2.58%), Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) (down 2%) and Shree Cement (down 1.69%) were major losers in Nifty 50 index.

Nifty Result Today:

Nestle India was down 0.11% ahead of quarterly result today, 20 April 2021.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Tech Mahindra slipped 1.46%. The firm announced that it has acquired DigitalOnUS, a leading hybrid cloud and DevOps services provider, to augment hybrid-cloud offerings for enterprise customers globally. Tech Mahindra has acquired 100% stake in the organisation to strengthen cloud-native development, hybrid cloud infrastructure and SRE (Site Reliability Engineering) automation. Total consideration of the acquisition is upto $120 million including retention bonus and earnout. The transaction is expected to close by 15 May 2021.

Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone gained 1.09% after the finance committee of the board approved the allotment of 1 crore equity shares, or 0.49% stake, on a preferential basis to Windy Lakeside Investment at an issue price of Rs 800 each. Windy Lakeside Investment is an affiliate of Warburg Pincus affiliate, a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing.

Global Markets:

European shares declined in early trade while most Asian stocks traded higher on Tuesday.

China kept its benchmark lending rate unchanged. On the economic data front, China kept its benchmark lending rate for corporate and household loans steady for the 12th straight month at its April fixing on Tuesday, matching market expectations. The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was kept at 3.85%. The five-year LPR remained at 4.65%.

U.S. stocks slipped from record levels to start the week on Monday as weakness in the technology sector weighed on the broader market.

On the coronavirus front, White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said he expects the U.S. will resume administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The Food and Drug Administration asked states last week to temporarily halt using the single dose vaccine ?out of an abundance of caution? after six women developed a rare blood-clotting disorder.

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