Share markets in India have extended early gains and are presently trading 5% higher, ahead of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's press conference.
Benchmark indices rallied for the third day, encouraged by reports of stimulus packages by large economies in order to soften the economic blow from the lockdown of businesses and offices.
The US Senate has passed a US$ 2 trillion coronavirus relief package for American workers and businesses.
Reports of Indian government working on a similar package encouraged investors. As per a Reuters report, India is likely to agree to an economic stimulus package of more than Rs 1.5 trillion.
All sectoral indices are trading in green with stocks in the banking sector, the finance sector and realty sector witnessing most of the buying interest.
The BSE Sensex is trading up by 1,421 points while the NSE Nifty is trading up by 382 points. The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 3.4%, while the BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 4%.
Gold prices are currently trading down by 1.4% at Rs 41,620.
The rupee is trading at 75.25 against the US$.
In news from the automobile sector, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is partnering with two public sector units (PSUs) to work with an existing manufacturer of high-spec ventilators to help them simplify design and scale-up capacity, said Pawan Goenka, MD of the company.
This comes a few days after the company's chairman Anand Mahindra announced that the group will offer all possible support to deal with Covid-19 outbreak.
Anand Mahindra, on Sunday had announced that he has decided to offer his 100% salary to deal with the rising menace of Corona virus and directed his group to immediately begin work on manufacturing of ventilators at its own factories.
M&M share price is presently trading up by 1.4%.
Moving on to news from the banking sector, IndusInd Bank share price is in focus today. Stock of the company rallied over 40% today on an expectation of huge stimulus package announcement by the government.
This is the stock's biggest-ever one-day gain.
Apart from IndusInd Bank, shares of most NBFCs and insurance companies rallied on back of the above news.
As per reports, the Narendra Modi government is also said to be considering an income support scheme for those worst hit by the slump in economic activity owing to the coronavirus pandemic.
The report added that this scheme could mean transferring Rs 5,000-6,000 into the bank accounts of 80-100 million poor families.
In other news, Europacific Growth Fund on March 25 sold 3.58 million shares of IndusInd Bank at an average price of Rs 298.83 per share.
Earlier this week, the bank's managing director and chief executive officer Romesh Sobti retired.
Following the news of MD and CEO Romesh Sobti's retirement, the stock fell over 30% on March 24, hitting an 8-year low of Rs 235.55.
The bank said that it has appointed Sumant Kathpalia as the managing director and chief executive officer. Kathpalia's appointment as MD & CEO will be placed for approval of the shareholders at the ensuing annual general meeting, the bank said in a statement.
We will keep you updated on the latest developments from this space. Stay tuned.
Speaking of the banking sector, the low access to credit for micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) tells us there is a huge opportunity for lenders.
This is evident from the chart below:
India's Huge Lending Opportunity
Of the 60 million MSMEs in India, only 11% had access to credit from organized lenders. Most of them are self-financed or get credit from unorganized sources.
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