Asian stock markets are trading on a positive note today as President Joe Biden announced a multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure investment plan.
The Nikkei is trading up by 0.5% while the Hang Seng is up 1.1%. The Shanghai Composite is trading higher by 0.3%.
In US stock markets, Wall Street indices rose overnight, closing out March and the first quarter on a high note as investors rotated back into high-growth tech while weighing President Joe Biden's big infrastructure spending plan.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 1.5% as Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook all gained at least 1.6%. Shares of Tesla jumped more than 5%. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.3%.
The Dow climbed 6.6% in March, posting its best month since November and the fourth positive month in five. For the quarter, it gained 7.8%, its fourth positive quarter in a row.
The Nasdaq was the relative underperformer as technology stocks are especially sensitive to rising rates. For March, the Nasdaq gained 0.4%. For the quarter, it gained 2.8%.
Back home, Indian share markets have opened on a strong note, following the trend on SGX Nifty.
The BSE Sensex is trading up by 315 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading higher by 90 points.
HCL Tech is among the top gainers today. HDFC Bank, on the other hand, is among the top losers today.
The BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index have opened higher by 0.8% and 1.2% respectively.
Barring realty stocks, all sectoral indices are trading in green with stocks in the IT sector and automobile sector witnessing most of the buying interest.
The rupee is trading at 73.19 against the US$.
Gold prices are trading down by 0.3% at Rs 44,510 per 10 grams.
Also, speaking of the ongoing volatility in Indian stock markets, have a look at the two charts below, in the order, they have been placed:
Near Term Volatility in Sensex Compensated by Long Term Gains
The year-on-year change in the Sensex was hardly predictable but someone who stayed invested multiplied every lakh nearly 14 times.
In news from the realty sector, the Maharashtra government on Wednesday decided not to extend the 2% stamp duty waiver on property registrations from April.
It said it would reinstate its earlier system of 5% stamp duty on property registrations from Thursday.
The state government had slashed the stamp duty charges to 2% between August and December last year to boost the real estate market, which was facing a slowdown due to Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown. It was made 3% between January 1 and March 31.
State Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat on Wednesday said that there would not be any changes in the stamp duty rates announced in September last year.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar had offered 1% extra relaxation in stamp duty if the property is purchased in the name of a woman.
While issuing the order, the state finance department had stated that once the property is purchased in the name of a woman, she cannot sell it for the next 15 years.
We will keep you updated on the latest developments in this space. Stay tuned.
Moving on to stock-specific news...
Axis Bank and ICICI Bank are among the top buzzing stocks today.
According to media reports, this has led to a huge interest among various entities to get into the fray by forming consortia.
These include one where Reliance Industries has tied up with Facebook and Google, another led by Paytm which has companies like Ola, while there is one led by the Tata Group with Mastercard, Bharti Airtel, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC Bank as partners.
ICICI Bank and Axis Bank will be co-leading the consortium with a 20% stake each. Other partners, including Amazon, Billdesk, Pine Labs, and Visa will be holding a stake of 15% each.
In other news, Axis Bank has informed the exchanges that it has agreed to sell its UK subsidiary to OpenPayd Holdings.
According to the filing, the UK arm contributed Rs 2.1 billion total income in FY20 and had a net worth of Rs 7.7 billion as of March 2020. This is almost 1% of the bank's net worth.
The specified date for the completion of the sale has been fixed at September 30, 2021, and is subject to the approval of the UK Financial Regulator and the Prudential Regulation Authority. The UK unit is being sold for the net asset value plus a fixed premium of US$ 5.5 million.
Axis Bank share price and ICICI Bank share price have opened the day up by 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively.
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