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Indian equity benchmarks opened higher on Tuesday

Benchmark Indian equities indices opened on a strong footing on Thursday tracking gains by global markets. In opening trade, Sensex rallied 349 points or 0.70% at 50,011; whereas the broader market index, Nifty50 was trading at 14,938 soaring 119 points or 0.81%.

HDFC, Bajaj Finserv, Tech Mahindra, Ultratech & ICICI Bank were the top gainers on the Sensex. Bajaj Auto, Nestle India, ONGC, Dr Reddy’s and Kotak Mahindra Bank lost in the range of 0.16-0.77%.

Sectorally all indices were trading in the green with the Nifty Metal index 1.59%. While Nifty Realty, Nifty IT jumped around 0.80%. Nifty Auto & Nifty FMCG were up 0.66% and 0.41% respectively.

Market breadth was strong as 1,389 shares advanced compared to 325 stocks declined while 520 scrips remained unchanged. The broader market were subdued as BSE MidCap index was up 0.48% and BSE SmallCap index rose 0.73%.

Stocks in spotlight:
Bharti Airtel launched ‘Airtel IoT’ – an integrated platform that enables enterprises to harness the power of Internet of Things (IoT) and be ready for the emerging era of connected things.

Muthoot Finance has announced its 25th series of Public Issue of Secured Redeemable Non-Convertible Debentures of face value of Rs. 1,000 each (Secured NCDs). The issue is with a base issue size of Rs 100 crore with an option to retain oversubscription up to Rs 1600 crore aggregating up to tranche limit of Rs 1700 crore.

Ashok Leyland through its subsidiary Switch Mobility, the U.K. based EV producer of buses and vans announced its global expansion plans into India and its plan to create two subsidiary companies. The first, Switch Mobility Automotive, is being formed to carry on the EV strategy in India, which forms part of its global entity. The second is OHM Global Mobility, which will focus on providing mobility as a service offering.

Godrej Consumer Products in its 4QFY21 update said that the company expects to deliver sales growth around the thirties in India, driven by strong volume growth and calibrated price increases. Sales growth was quite broad-based across key categories of Soaps, Household Insecticides and Hair Colours.

UCO Bank informed that the board of directors of the bank approved the proposal for the issue of equity shares on a preferential basis to the Government of India against capital infusion of Rs.2,600 crore.

Indian Overseas Bank informed that the meeting of the board of directors of the bank is scheduled on 12 April 2021, to consider and approve the issue of equity shares against a capital infusion of Rs 4100 crore.

Global markets:
Overseas, Asian stocks are trading mixed on Thursday after the S&P 500 nudged higher to a record closing high overnight.

In the U.S., the S&P 500 gained slightly to hit a record high on Wednesday. The moves on Wall Street came as the U.S. Federal Reserve released minutes from its March 16-17 meeting during which it kept its accommodative policy in place. The meeting summary indicated that while officials saw the economy was gaining considerably, they see much more progress needed before ultra-easy policy changes.

President Joe Biden recently unveiled details of his $2 trillion infrastructure plan that includes a corporate tax rate hike to 28%. He said Wednesday that he is willing to negotiate on the proposed tax increase.