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After wiping out morning gains benchmark Indian equity indices rebounded strongly in afternoon trade, as fresh buying was seen in metal, bank and auto counters. Besides that GST collection for the month of March hit an all-time high of Rs 1.24 lakh crore also aided the sentiments.

Indian markets ended the first day of the new financial year with over 1% gains. Sensex zoomed 520 points or 1.05% to 50,029, whereas the Nifty 50 ended at 14,867 rallied 176 points or 1.20%.

IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finance & Axis Bank were top gainers on the Sensex. On the downside, only four constituents of Sensex ended in the red. HUL was the biggest loser falling 1.29% followed by Nestle, HDFC Bank, TCS slipping anywhere between 0.35-0.85%.

Nifty Metal gained the most up 5.33% as steel mills mull rising steel prices. That apart, Nifty Bank & Nifty Auto indices rallied over 1.6% each. Whereas Nifty IT & Nifty Realty were up around 0.50%. Only the Nifty FMCG index lost around 0.16%.

Binod Modi, Head – Strategy at Reliance Securities, said, “Domestic equities shrugged-off COVID-19 spikes on favourable global cues and recovered sharply mainly led by strong buying in financials and automobile stocks. The strong monthly volume for March helped auto stocks to attract investors’ interest.”

The broader market outperformed the benchmarks. The BSE MidCap index rallied 1.68% while the BSE SmallCap index surged 2.05%.

Buyers outnumbered sellers. On the BSE, 2,143 shares rose and 748 shares fell. A total of 152 shares were unchanged.

Economy:
The gross GST revenue collected in the month of March 2021 stood at a record of Rs 1,23,902 crore of which CGST is Rs 22,973 crore, SGST Rs 29,329 crore, IGST Rs 62,842 crore and Cess is Rs 8,757 crore. The GST revenues during March 2021 are the highest since the introduction of GST. In line with the trend of recovery in the GST revenues over the past five months, the revenues for the month of March 2021 are 27% higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year.

India’s current account balance recorded a deficit of $1.7 billion (0.2% of GDP) in Q3 FY2021 after a surplus of $15.1 billion (2.4% of GDP) in Q2 FY2021 and $19 billion (3.7% of GDP) in Q1 FY2021; a deficit of $2.6 billion (0.4% of GDP) was recorded a year ago. Underlying the current account deficit in Q3 FY2021 was a rise in the merchandise trade deficit to $34.5 billion from $14.8 billion in the preceding quarter and an increase in net investment income payments.

The combined Index of Eight Core Industries stood at 127.8 in February 2021, which declined by 4.6% as compared to the Index of February 2020. All sectors reported a decline in output during the month under review. Its cumulative growth during April to February 2020-21 has been (-) 8.3%.

Meanwhile, World Bank has raised the Indian GDP growth prediction for the 2021-22 fiscal to 10.1% from 5.4% projected in January. The international bank said given the significant uncertainty amid COVID-19 effects on the economy, the real India GDP growth could be in the range from 7.5% to 12.5%.

The World Bank in its South Asia Economic Focus Spring update report said that it has revised the projection amid a strong rebound in private consumption and investment growth. The international bank noted that government consumption is expected to rise by about 16.7% during the reported fiscal.

No change in Small Savings Scheme:
The government on Thursday decided to withdraw the rate cut order on the small saving schemes. Finance Minister said interest rates on small savings schemes will continue to be at the levels as in March 2021.

“Interest rates of small savings schemes of GoI shall continue to be at the rates which existed in the last quarter of 2020-2021, i.e., rates that prevailed as of March 2021. Orders issued by oversight shall be withdrawn,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a tweet early Thursday morning.

March Auto Sales:
Escorts fell 1.23%. The company’s Agri Machinery Segment (EAM) in March 2021 sold 12,337 tractors, its highest ever March sales, and registered a growth of 126.6% against 5,444 tractors sold in March 2020. Sequentially, the company’s tractor sales have increased by 9.86% last month from 11,230 units sold in February 2021. Domestic tractor sales in March 2021 stood at 11,730 tractors, registering a growth of 124.4% from 5,228 tractors sold in March 2020. Escorts said the tractor demand is expected to continue to be strong led by higher Rabi output, favourable crop prices, and an initial positive forecast of 2021 monsoon season, all supporting rural customer sentiments.

Maruti Suzuki rose 0.71%. The car major’s total sales surged 99.31% to 1,67,014 units in March 2021 as against 83,792 units in March 2020. Sequentially, the company’s total auto sales rose 1.54% in March 2021 as against 1,64,469 units sold in February 2021. Total domestic sales (PV+LCV) jumped 94.23% to 1,49,518 units while total export sales surged 146.11% to 11,597 units in March 2021 over March 2020. Total domestic sales (domestic+OEM) grew 96.53% to 1,55,417 units in March 2021 over 79,080 units in March 2020.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) gained 1.55%. The company announced that its overall auto sales (passenger vehicles+ commercial vehicles + exports) for March 2021 stood at 40,403 units, up 505% compared with 6,679 units in March 2020. Sequentially, the company’s auto sales surged 40.40% in March 2021 from 28,777 units sold in February 2021. Mahindra’s Farm Equipment Sector (FES) said that its total tractor sales (domestic + exports) during March 2021 were at 30,970 units, up by 128% from 13,613 units for the same period last year. While total domestic tractor sales increased by 122% to 29,817 units, total tractor exports increased by 491% to 1,153 units in March 2021 over March 2020.

Ashok Leyland gained 3.35% after the company’s total sales (domestic+exports) stood at 17,231 units in March 2021, up 710% over 2126 units sold in March 2020. The company’s total domestic sales surged 809% to 15,761 units in March 2021 compared with 1,734 units in March 2020.

Tata Motors rose 1.89% after the auto major’s total sales in the domestic & international market for Q4 FY21 stood at 191,720 vehicles, up by 89.04% from 101,420 units sold during Q4 FY20. The company’s total domestic sales have increased by 94% to 182,824 units in Q4 FY21 from 94,256 units in Q4 FY20. In March 2021, the Tata Group company sold 66,609 vehicles in the domestic market, as compared to 11,012 vehicles sold in March 2020. The company’s total commercial vehicle (CV) sales (domestic + exports) were at 40,609 units in March 2021 as against 7,123 units in March 2020.

Eicher Motors rose 0.81%. VE Commercial Vehicles, an unlisted subsidiary of Eicher Motors, sold 7037 vehicles in March 2021 compared with 1499 vehicles sold in March 2020. Total domestic sales were at 6054 units in March 2021 as against 1409 units sold in March 2020. The company exported 816 vehicles during the month compared with 67 vehicles exported in the same period last year. Total Volvo Trucks & Buses sales stood at 167 units in March 2021 as against 23 units in March 2020.

SML Isuzu gained 3.54% after the auto maker’s total sales jumped 95.1% to 952 units in March 2021 as against 488 units in March 2020. Sequentially, the company’s auto sales soared 25.26% in March 2021 as against 760 units sold in February 2021. The vehicle maker’s sales in Q4 FY21 dropped 9.4% to 2,247 units from 2,479 units sold in Q4 FY20. For FY21, total sales tumbled nearly 52% to 5,043 units from 10,494 units sold in FY20.

VST Tillers Tractors rose 2.67% after the company’s total sales jumped to 3,787 units in March 2021, up 91.75% as against 1,975 units sold in March 2020. The company sold 3056 units of power tillers in March 2021, higher than 1585 units sold in March 2020. Total tractor sales stood at 731 units last month, higher than 390 units sold in the same period last year.

Global Markets:
Shares in Europe and Asia rallied on Thursday, supported by the US government’s $2 trillion spending plan.

A private survey released Thursday showed slowing growth of Chinese factory activity in March. The Caixin/Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for March came in at 50.6, compared with February’s reading of 50.9.

Japan’s factory activity expanded at a faster pace in March. The final au Jibun Bank Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to a seasonally adjusted 52.7 in March from the previous month’s 51.4 reading.

In the U.S., the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose on Wednesday, boosted by gains in technology shares as investors positioned themselves for President Joe Biden’s massive infrastructure plan.

(With inputs from Capital Market – Live News & PTI.)