Domestic equity benchmarks slumped on Friday, led by broad-based selling pressure. The Nifty closed below the 14,550 mark. All the sectoral indices on the NSE ended in the red. Banks and financial shares witnessed major selling pressure. A spike in domestic and global bond yields coupled with rising coronavirus cases spoiled investors' appetite for risk assets.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slumped 1939.32 points or 3.80% to 49,099.99. The Nifty 50 index tumbled 568.20 points or 3.76% to 14,529.15.

ONGC (down 6.64%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 6.53%), Power Grid Corporation of India (down 6.46%) were major losers in the Nifty 50 index.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 1.75% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index lost 0.74%. Both the indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1061 shares rose and 1850 shares fell. A total of 190 shares were unchanged.

Investors were also cautious ahead of India's gross domestic product (GDP) data for October-December quarter, to be released later in the day.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 11,30,02,186 with 25,07,624 deaths. India reported 1,55,986 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,56,825 deaths while 1,07,50,680 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Bank index tumbled 4.94% to 34,743.25. The index rose 4.1% in the past two sessions.

Axis Bank (down 6.03%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 5.83%), RBL Bank (down 5.52%), ICICI Bank (down 4.94%), HDFC Bank (down 4.44%), IndusInd Bank (down 4.24%), SBI (down 3.93%), Federal Bank (down 3.13%), Punjab National Bank (down 2.74%) and IDFC First Bank (down 2.16%) declined.

Bank of Baroda (BoB) dropped 5.23% to Rs 85.20. The bank's board has approved raising upto Rs 4500 crore from institutional investors through a qualified institutional placement (QIP). The board authorised opening the QIP issue on 25 February 2021. The floor price of the qualified institutional placement is fixed at Rs 85.98 per share. A meeting of the committee is scheduled on 2 March 2021 to consider the issue price.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Nava Bharat Ventures rose 2.98% to Rs 72.65 after the company said its board approved a proposal to buyback equity shares worth upto Rs 150 crore. The company proposes to buyback shares at maximum price of Rs 100 each.

NTPC fell 1.34% to Rs 106.50. The company announced that Unit-2 of 800 MW of Gadarwara Super Thermal Power Station (2 x 800 MW) is declared on commercial operation w.e.f 00:00 Hrs of 01 March 2021. With this, the commercial capacity of NTPC and NTPC group will become 52115 MW and 64880 MW, respectively.

Dilip Buildcon gained 1.69% to Rs 678 after the company said it has been declared as lowest (L-1) bidder for two new projects aggregating to Rs 2241 crore in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Both the projects have completion period 24 months and operation period of 15 years.

Rain Industries slipped 1.20% to Rs 164.50 after the company's consolidated net profit surged 164.7% to Rs 321.99 crore on 6.7% decrease in net sales at Rs 2,640.23 crore in Q4 December 2020 over Q4 December 2019. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA margin improved to 18.2% in Q4 FY21 as against 16% in Q4 FY20.

Aptech lost 2.96% to Rs 219.95. The company said that it has decided to exit its institutional (B2B) business. It currently operates in two business segments - retail and institutional. No buyer is identified as yet. The company will take the process forward once the evaluation is completed and suitable expression of interest is received. The company said it intends to complete the exercise within 12-16 weeks.

Mahindra Lifespace Developers rose 1.08% to Rs 515.55. The company has acquired 7.89 acres of land in Kanakpura Road, Bengaluru to develop a residential project. The project will offer approximately 5 lakh sq. ft. of carpet area. The launch of the project is planned for FY 2022. Kanakpura Road is a prominent residential hub in Bengaluru and one of the city's relatively greener areas.

South Indian Bank surged 10.67% to Rs 9.85. The bank's board has approved issuance of up to 28.30 crore shares to HDFC Life Insurance Company, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Company, SBI Life Insurance Company and ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company, at a price of Rs 8.48 per equity share aggregating to Rs 239 crore, on a preferential basis.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia declined across the board on Friday as global markets were roiled by a sudden spike in bond yields, which sent investors fleeing highly valued segments of the market.

Japan's industrial output rose for the first time in three months in January. Official data released on Friday showed factory output advanced 4.2% in January, boosted by sharp rises in production of electronic parts and general-purpose machinery, as well as a smaller increase in car output.

U.S. stocks dropped sharply Thursday as an outsized surge in bond yields spooked investors, who rushed to dump risk assets, especially high-flying technology names.

The major averages tumbled as the 10-year Treasury yield soared as high as 1.6% in a sudden move that some described as a flash spike. The yield later settled back down to around 1.52%, its highest level since February 2020.

The US economy grew at a 4.1% pace in the final three months of 2020, slightly faster than first estimated, ending a year in which the overall economy, ravaged by a global pandemic, shrank more than in any year in the past seven decades. The 4.1% gain in the gross domestic product — the broadest measure of economic health - is a slight upward revision from 4% growth in the first estimate released a month ago, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

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