It was indeed a volatile trading day for share markets in India today.
Indian stock markets took cues from global counterparts and surged in early trade today as Federal Reserve's corporate bond-buying programme boosted investor sentiment and calmed earlier worries about the second wave of coronavirus infections.
However, markets reversed gains and slipped into the red in the afternoon session after reports stated that tensions between India and China escalated into violence, leading to the death of three Indian Army personnel.
The Indian Army said an officer and two soldiers were killed in Ladakh's Galwan Valley on Monday night during "violent face-off" with Chinese personnel.
The BSE Sensex fell over 1,000 points from day's high on the back of the above news. However, Sensex recovered all losses during the last hour of trading amid positive global cues.
At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 376 points (up 1.1%).
The NSE Nifty closed higher by 100 points (up 1%).
Gains were largely seen in the finance sector and the banking sector.
Telecom stocks, on the other hand witnessed selling pressure.
The BSE Mid Cap index ended the day up by 0.3%, while the BSE Small Cap index ended on a flat note.
SGX Nifty was trading at 9,882, up by 68 points, at the time of writing.
Asian stock markets ended on a positive note. As of the most recent closing prices, the Hang Seng was up 2.4% and the Shanghai Composite stood higher by 1.4%. The Nikkei ended higher by 4.9%.
Gold prices are trading up by 0.6% at Rs 47,320.
The rupee is currently trading at 76.20 against the US$.
Speaking of the current stock market scenario, note that the coronavirus impact has shaken markets worldwide.
For the BSE Sensex, FY20 was the second-worst year post FY08, the year of the global financial crisis.
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In news from the automobile sector, Tata Motors reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 98.9 billion for the March quarter (Q4FY20) on the back of a steep fall in vehicle sales.
It had posted net profit of Rs 11.2 billion in the year-ago period.
The company said it has made a provision for impairment of passenger vehicle (PV) business as an exceptional item of Rs 14.2 billion in its financial statement, which drove the losses in the March quarter.
The company's consolidated revenue from operations for Q4FY20 came in at Rs 624.9 billion, down 28% year-on-year (YoY) from Rs 864.2 billion in the same period last year.
Revenue from its British luxury car subsidiary, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), was at Rs 505.6 billion, down 22% YoY.
The company's total wholesales for the March quarter were at 101,069 units, down 47% YoY from 192,339 units a year-ago.
The India business for the March quarter saw commercial vehicles (CV) sales drop 50% to 69,069 units and PV sales fall 40% YoY to 32,000 units.
To ride out the turmoil caused by Covid-19 disruptions in its Indian as well as UK subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover Automotive, the firm said it would review its business to save Rs 150 billion for the consolidated entity in FY20-21.
The company also said it was looking for a strategic partner and was in talks with automakers for the same.
Tata Motors share price ended the day down by 6%.
Moving on to news from the pharma sector, Zydus Cadila, part of Cadila Healthcare group, on Tuesday said it has received final approval from the US health regulator to market its generic version of Deferasirox tablets used in the treatment of chronic iron overload due to blood transfusions.
In a regulatory filing, Cadila Healthcare said that the approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for Deferasirox tablets is for multiple strengths of 90 mg, 180 mg and 360 mg.
Deferasirox is used to treat iron overload caused by blood transfusions in adults and children who are at least two years old.
The drug will be manufactured at the group's manufacturing facility at special economic zone, Ahmedabad.
With this, Cadila Group now has 291 approvals and has so far filed over 390 abbreviated new drug applications since the commencement of the filing process in FY 2003-04.
Cadila Healthcare share price ended the day down by 2.5%.
Speaking of the pharma sector, in December 2019, co-head of Research at Equitymaster, Tanushree Banerjee had predicted that pharma could be the sector to see a big rebound in 2020.
And rightly so, most pharma companies have re-emerged as the safer bets for investors in the ongoing market turmoil.
In April, the Indian rupee touched a new record low of Rs 76.92 against the US dollar. Most pharma companies generate their revenues through exports. Hence, a depreciating rupee is a positive development for them.
As per Tanushree, in a post-COVID-19 world, healthcare expenditures globally will see a big rejig.
Tanushree has her eyes on an exciting tech stock. The company in question is developing its medical division. It's focusing on telemedicine, which Tanushree believes will be a huge growth driver in a post Corona world.
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