Sensex Tumbles 155 Points, Nifty Slips Below 14,850

Following the downside in Asian markets and concerns over rising Covid cases, coupled with reports of slowdown in vaccine supply, the Indian equity markets snapped their three-day winning streak and closed lower after a gap-down opening tracking declines in value stocks like Bajaj Finance, UltraTech Cement, and Tata Steel. Throughout the day, Sensex traded in the red territory and closed lower by 154.89 points at 49,591.32, with 16 of its constituents ending with losses.

The Nifty-50 index closed lower by 38 points at 14,834.85 with losses in 27 stocks out of 50 in the entire pack.

However, Indian markets tried to gain some momentum in the early hours of the market and breached the level of 14,900 but gains remained capped as Covid-19 cases continued to climb to unprecedented levels, raising the prospects of a wider lockdown in pockets of India. 

Among the sectors, Pharma and PSU Bank saw buying interest but couldn't lift the markets as selling pressure in the Metal and Auto sectors dampened the sentiment. PSU Bank and Pharma sector surged over 2-3 per cent in the day's trade backed by shares of Central Bank (+10 per cent), Bank of India (+ 9.24 per cent), and Cadila Health (+ 9.29 per cent).

The PSU stocks clocked major gains after a news report stated that senior officials of Niti Aayog, the Reserve Bank of India, and Finance ministry's officials are likely to meet on Wednesday, April 14 to discuss the privatization matter and also to discuss the potential candidates. 

Among the individuals, shares of Cadila Health marked gains for the second day in a row after the company received USFDA (United States Food and Drug Administration) approval for Ibritunib capsules which are used in cancer treatment. The stock today hit its upper circuit band at Rs 517.75. 

However, heavy selling in stocks of Bajaj Finance, UPL, and UltraTech Cement dragged the markets to close lower. The stocks declined 3 per cent, two per cent, and two per cent, respectively, and closed among the top losers of the index.

Amid a muted session in the key indices, the BSE Smallcap index jumped higher by 147 points led by advances in shares of Butterfly, Guj Alkali, and SREI Infra. The stocks surged 20 per cent each in the day's trade and led the index to mark its all-time high of 21,667.13. 

Shares of SREI hit the 20 per cent upper circuit at Rs 7.02 after the company's subsidiary SREI Equipment Finance Limited announced that it has received EOI (expression of interest) for nearly USD 250 million for capital injection in the company from international private equity funds. 

Commenting on the growth in the Smallcap index, G Chokkalingam of Equinomics Research, said, "Retail investors have been at the core of the recent rally in the small-and mid-caps over the past few months. Their interest in the small-caps is likely to be maintained in FY22 as well".

Weekly Outlook: Tracking the overall performance of the markets for the current week, the NSE index lost 32.50 points over the week and the Nifty Bank index dipped 4.16 per cent or 1,409.95 points. The 30-share pack BSE Sensex declined 438 points , however, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap index gained 1.20 and 2.49 per cent respectively. Moving on the sectoral front, the IT and Telecom sector gained over four and three per cent respectively in the current week., while the Metal sector gained over six per cent backed by strong buying interest in shares of JSW and Tata Steel. 

Global Markets: US markets closed with record highs as U.S. Treasury yields fell following softer-than-anticipated labor market data and ramped technology, while Asian markets were trading mostly in red. The Singaporean SGX Nifty was trading lower by 74 points at filing.