Sensex jumps 740 pts, Nifty ends near 17,500 mark; Bajaj twins rally

The benchmark indices surged on Wednesday, rallying for the third trading session. Positive cues from other Asian stock markets boosted sentiment. The Nifty settled a tad below the 17,500 mark after hitting the day`s high of 17,522.50 in late trade. Banks, financials and media shares advanced while metals, pharma and healthcare stocks declined.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 740.34 points or 1.28% at 58,683.99. The Nifty 50 index gained 172.95 points or 1% at 17,498.25.

Bajaj Finserv (up 3.82%), Bajaj Finance (up 3.09%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 2.58%), Reliance Industries (up 1.94%) and Infosys (up 1.69%) boosted the indices.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.78% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 1.09%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, shares 2,121 rose and 1,281 shares fell. A total of 107 shares were unchanged.

The NSE`s India VIX, a gauge of market`s expectation of volatility over the near term, declined 3.25% to 20.61.

Economy:

Domestic ratings agency ICRA, on Tuesday, slashed India`s FY23 real GDP growth estimate by 0.8% to 7.2%, primarily driven by the fallout of Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the time extension (36 months) to identify 10 provisional mega certified projects for furnishing the final mega certificates to the tax authorities.

The extension of time period for furnishing final mega certificate will enable developers to competitively bid for future PPAs and get tax exemptions as per policy terms. The increased liquidity will boost the overall growth of the country and also ensure the revival of various stressed power assets.

The time period for the 10 provisional mega projects which are commissioned/ partly commissioned for furnishing the final mega certificates to the tax authorities has been extended to 156 months instead of 120 months from the date of import.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 6.784% as compared with 6.821% at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee was lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 75.94, compared with its close of 75.73 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2022 settlement rose 0.59% to Rs 51,113.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback`s value against a basket of currencies, declined 0.4% to 98.052.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2022 settlement rose $2.18 at $109.89 a barrel.

Global Markets:

Most European stocks declined while most Asian stocks advanced on Wednesday as investors watch for developments surrounding the war in Ukraine.

According to the media reports, Russian claimed it would reduce its attacks on Ukraine as delegates from the two countries met for their latest face-to-face peace talks in Istanbul. Moscow said it would cut back its military activity near Ukraine`s capital of Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv. However, the General Staff of Ukraine`s Armed Forces says the Russian withdrawal pledge is designed to mislead.

In Asia, Japanese retail sales fell in February for the first time in five months. Retail sales fell 0.8% in February from a year earlier, government data showed on Wednesday.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Axis Bank rose 1.72%. The private bank announced acquisition of Citibank`s consumer businesses in India. The bank will pay a consideration upto Rs 12,325 crore to Citibank for the acquisition.

The transaction comprises the sale of the consumer businesses of Citibank India, which includes credit cards, retail banking, wealth management and consumer loans. The deal also includes the sale of the consumer business of Citi`s non-banking financial company, Citicorp Finance (India), comprising the asset-backed financing business, which includes commercial vehicle and construction equipment loans, as well as the personal loans portfolio.

Saregama India hit an upper circuit limit of 5% at Rs 4598.55 after the company said its board approved the demerger of e-commerce distribution business into a new company, Digidrive Distributors, on a going concern basis.

Saregama India will demerge its entire distribution business relating to sale of all its physical products including carvaan on digital marketplaces alongwith identified non-core assets (including investments in publication business) and other activities and/or arrangements incidental or relating thereto ("e-commerce distribution business").

No cash consideration is payable under the proposed demerger scheme. The existing shareholders will receive 2 fully paid up equity shares of Digidrive Distributors, for 1 equity share of Saregama India. The equity shares of Digidrive Distributors will be listed on the BSE and the National Stock Exchange of India.

Hero MotoCorp rose 2.86%. The two-wheeler major after market hours on Tuesday announced an upward price revision in the ex-showroom prices of its motorcycles and scooters with effect from 5 April 2022.

In an exchange filing, Hero MotoCorp said, �The price revision has been necessitated to partially offset the impact of increasing commodity prices.� The company further said that the price revision will be up to Rs 2,000 and the exact quantum of increase will be subject to specific model and the market.�

Shares of Tata Consumer Products (TCPL) jumped 3.05% and shares of Tata Coffee (TCL) surged 9.32%.

TCPL on Tuesday announced the merger of all businesses of TCL with itself as part of a reorganisation plan in line with its strategic priority of unlocking synergies and efficiencies. On effectiveness of the scheme, the shareholders of TCL (other than TCPL) as on the record date will receive an aggregate of 3 equity shares of TCPL for every 10 equity shares held by them in TCL.

ONGC fell 5.14% to Rs 162.25 after the offer for sale (OFS) opened for non-retail investors today, 30 March 2022. Through the OFS, the Government of India proposes to sell up to 9,43,52,094 equity shares (representing 0.75% stake), with an option to sell an additional 0.75% stake or 9,43,52,094 equity shares in case of oversubscription.

The floor price for the sale has been set at Rs 159, at over 7% discount to the stock`s closing price of Rs 171 on Tuesday. The total OFS size (base size + green shoe) stands at 18,87,04,188 shares, representing 1.5% of outstanding equity shares of the company, the value of which (at floor price) aggregates to Rs 3000 crore. The Government of India held 60.41% stake in ONGC as of 31 December 2021.

Exide Industries rose 0.76%. The board of Exide Industries approved the scheme of amalgamation of wholly-owned subsidiary Chloride Power Systems and Solutions with the company.

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