Sensex Ends 480 Points Higher; Metal and Healthcare Stocks Rally

Talks of relief measures by major economies and RBI's statement on coronavirus pushed Indian stock markets higher today.

With an objective to boost confidence after the recent selloff, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that the spillovers to financial markets in India have largely been contained. RBI also said it is ready to take appropriate actions to ensure orderly functioning of financial markets, maintain market confidence and preserve financial stability.

On the sectoral front, gains were largely seen in the metal sector, healthcare sector, and power sector.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 480 points (up 1.3%) and the NSE Nifty closed higher by 171 points (up 1.5%).

The BSE Mid Cap index ended up by 1.8%, while the BSE Small-Cap index ended the day up by 1.3%.

Asian share markets extended a tentative recovery from their coronavirus slump as global policymakers signaled a united front to address the economic fallout from the spreading outbreak.

As of the most recent closing prices, the Hang Seng was up 0.2% and the Shanghai Composite stood higher by 0.7%.

The rupee was trading at 73.15 to the US$ at the time of writing.

Speaking of the current stock market scenario, investors took the flight to safety last week as stock markets saw a sharp fall post the Coronavirus impact.

The Dow Jones (US) fell by 12%, its biggest fall since the 2008 global crisis. Back home, the Indian stock market also saw a weekly fall of 7%, its worst in a decade.

Coronavirus Impact Felt in Stock Markets Worldwide

 

Here's what Tanushree Banerjee wrote about this in today's edition of The 5 Minute WrapUp...

• While manufacturers dependent on China are expected to take a hit globally, the short-term impact is also likely to be felt on sectors like travel and tourism.
  
  In the long-run though, India could emerge as a long-term alternative to the world's supply needs.
  
  A potential megatrend that I will be keenly keeping an eye...

Tanushree is counting on 7 top stocks from the Indian stock market that will benefit from this megatrend.

Meanwhile, in Friday's podcast, we had shared a special episode from investor hour...

In this emergency episode of the Investor Hour, Rahul Goel talks to Vijay Bhambwani, who he calls India's #1 trader.

Vijay dives deep in this "coronavirus" situation and presents a picture which we believe would be extremely beneficial to any investor or trader.

They talk stocks, commodities, bullion, and currency.

For each of these assets, they talk what's around the corner, and how one should position oneself for potential gains.

Listen in here...

Towards the end, Vijay shares a very unique perspective on how to allocate assets. Don't miss that!

In news from the pharma sector, shares of pharma companies were in focus today with the BSE Healthcare index gaining more than 3% on the BSE.

Shares of Pfizer rallied 16% to hit a record high of Rs 4,929 on back of heavy volumes after reports suggested that its parent company Pfizer Inc has identified some antiviral compounds with potential as coronavirus treatments.

According to a Reuters report, Pfizer Inc said on Monday that it has identified certain antiviral compounds it had in development that have the potential to inhibit coronaviruses and is engaging with a third party to screen the compounds.

The report suggested that Indian companies are the main supplier of generic drugs to the world and procure almost 70% of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for their medicines from China.

Meanwhile, shares of Sun Pharma gained over 6% after the company informed the exchanges on Monday that there was a shortage of its generic version of hypertension drug pindolol due to the unavailability of supply of the drug's ingredients.

Pfizer share price and Sun Pharma share price ended the day up by 4.3% and 6.6%, respectively.

Moving on to news from the automobile sector, Eicher Motors' share price was in focus today.

Stock of the company gained over 5% today after the company announced that its board of directors will meet on March 11 to consider and approve payment of interim dividend.

Buying interest was also seen as Eicher Motors and Volvo Group's joint venture (JV) - VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV) unveiled its entire BS-VI range of trucks and buses at its Pithampur manufacturing facility in Indore, ahead of the April 1 deadline of the implementation of the new emission norms.

In a press release, the company said that "a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company will be held on Wednesday, March 11, 2020, inter-alia, to consider and approve proposal for payment of interim dividend on the equity shares of the Company for the financial year 2019-20."

The company recently unveiled its sales figures for February. On year-on-year (YoY) basis, sales of motorcycles of models with engine capacity up to 350cc remained flat at 57,292 units, whereas models with engine capacity exceeding 350cc grew 11% YoY to 6,244 units.

Overall, sales figures grew 1% YoY to 63,536 units in February. However, exports, slipped 8% to 2,348 units.

The company also added that the virus outbreak had minimal impact on the production of motorcycles during February.

Stay tuned for more updates from this space.