The domestic equity benchmarks ended with significant cuts on Monday, led by weakness in banks and financial shares. After hitting the day's low of 14,459.50 in mid-morning trade, the Nifty pared losses and closed above the 14,600 mark. IT and metal stocks bucked the broader selloff. A spike in domestic coronavirus cases and fresh curbs imposed by the state government dented investors' sentiment.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slumped 870.51 points or 1.74% to 49,159.32. The Nifty 50 index tumbled 229.55 points or 1.54% to 14,637.80.

In broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 1.13% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 1.08%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1061 shares rose and 1897 shares fell. A total of 183 shares were unchanged.

Politics:

Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh submited resignation to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. On petition of Dr Jaishri Patil, Bombay High Court asked Central Bureau of Investigation to start a preliminary inquiry within 15 days into corruption allegations of former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh against Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh. Former Mumbai top cop, Singh had earlier claimed that Deshmukh had asked police officers, including suspended assistant police inspector Sachin Waze, to collect at least Rs 100 crore from city bars and hotels every month, a charge which Deshmukh denied.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 13,13,34,009 with 28,53,360 deaths. India reported 7,41,830 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,65,101 deaths while 1,16,82,136 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Meanwhile, in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray-led state government on April 4 imposed new curbs to control the transmission rate of the contagion. As part of the new rules, a night curfew would be in place across the state from 8 pm to 7 am and a weekend lockdown will be effective from 8 pm on Friday to 7 am on Monday. The restrictions, which come into effect from today (April 5), also include a ban on gatherings of five or more people throughout the day. Essential and medical services are exempt from this.

Economy:

The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell from 57.5 in February to a seven-month low of 55.4 in March. However, the latest reading was indicative of a substantial improvement in the health of the sector that outpaced the long-run series average.

Meanwhile, GST Revenue collection for March 2021 has set a new record with highest ever collection of Rs 1,23,902. The GST revenue collected in the last month is 27% higher than that collected in March last year.

The Finance Ministry has informed that GST revenues of March are the highest since the introduction of Goods & Services Tax in the country. During the month, revenue from import of goods was 70% higher and the revenues from domestic transaction are 17% higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year.

Further, India's merchandise exports in March 2021 increased an impressive 58.23% to $34 billion as against $21.49 billion in March last year.

Exports during April-March 2020-21 were $290.18 billion, as compared to $313.36 billion during the same period of last year, exhibiting a negative growth of 7.40%.

India's merchandise imports in March 2021 were $48.12 billion as compared to $31.47 billion in March last year. This is an increase of 52.89%. Merchandise imports during April-March 2020-21 were $388.92 billion, as compared to $474.71 billion during the same period of last year, exhibiting a negative growth of 18.07%.

India is thus a net importer in March 2021, with a trade deficit of $14.11 billion, as compared to trade deficit of $9.98 billion. This is an improvement by 41.4%.

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code Ordinance, 2021:

The government has amended the insolvency law to provide for a pre-packaged resolution process for micro, small and medium enterprises. An ordinance was promulgated to amend the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) on Sunday, 4 April 2021.

As per the ordinance, it is considered necessary to urgently address the specific requirements of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) relating to the resolution of their insolvency, due to the unique nature of their businesses and simpler corporate structures.

It is considered expedient to provide an efficient alternative insolvency resolution process MSMEs to ensure a quicker, cost-effective and value maximising outcomes for all stakeholders, in a manner which is least disruptive to the continuity of their businesses and which preserves jobs.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index rose 2.03% to 26,509. The index has added 2.53% in two sessions.

Larsen & Toubro Infotech (up 4.19%), Info Edge India (up 3.92%), Coforge (up 3.63%), HCL Tech (up 3.13%), TCS (up 2.44%), Wipro (up 2.14%) and Infosys (up 2.11%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Marico fell 1.15% to Rs 402.50. The FMCG company witnessed healthy momentum building across its key portfolios. General Trade put up a strong show led by rural growth. E-Commerce continued to gain salience. Modern Trade was affected by the high base on account of the pre-lockdown pantry loading in March last year, but has been in recovery mode. While, Canteen Stores Department (CSD) rebounded to post healthy growth.

Marico's India business delivered a very strong double-digit volume growth, albeit on a low but relatively stronger base when compared to key peers in the sector. The FMCG company's International business, too, posted strong double-digit constant currency growth on the back of recovery across markets. As operating margin is likely to dip significantly owing to the severe input cost pressure, Marico expects to deliver low double-digit bottom line growth in the quarter.

HDFC Bank declined 2.46% to Rs 1450. The bank announced that its advances grew around 13.9% to approximately Rs 11,32,000 crore as of 31 March 2021 compared with Rs 993,700 crore as of 31 March 2020. The bank's deposits aggregated to approximately Rs 13,35,000 crore as of 31 March 2021, up by around 16.3% compared with Rs 11,47,500 crore as of 31 March 2020. CASA deposits aggregated to approximately Rs 6,15,500 crore as of 31 March 2021, a growth of around 27% over Rs 4,84,600 crore as of 31 March 2020. CASA ratio stood at around 46% as of 31 March 2021, as compared to 42.2% as of 31 March 2020

Federal Bank tumbled 3.23% at Rs 76.30. The private lender said that its total deposits increased by 13% to Rs 172,655 crore as of 31 March 2021 compared to Rs 152,290 crore reported on 31 March 2020. Gross advanced grew by 9% to Rs 134,876 crore as of 31 March 2021 from Rs 124,153 crore posted on 31 March 2020. CASA rose 26% to Rs 58381 crore as of 31 March 2021 from Rs 46450 crore registered in 31 March 2020. CASA ratio improved to 33.81% at the end of 31 March 2021 from 30.5% recorded on 31 March 2020.

Yes Bank fell 1.27% at Rs 15.55. The bank's loans & advances rose 0.8% to Rs 172,850 crore as on 31 March 2021 compared with Rs 171,443 crore as on 31 March 2020. Deposits increased by 54.7% to Rs 162,947 crore as on 31 March 2021 from Rs 105,364 crore on 31 March 2020. The bank's CASA improved by 51.8% to Rs 42,587 crore as on 31 March 2021 from Rs 28,063 crore as on 31 March 2020. CASA ratio was at 27.3% as on 31 March 2021 as against 28.5% as on 31 March 2020.

Maruti Suzuki India declined 2.02%. Suzuki Motor Gujarat (SMG), a 100% subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation for the production of automobiles in India, has completed construction of the Plant C in Gujarat and started production from April 2021. Suzuki established SMG in March 2014, aiming to secure production ability in preparation for the automobile market growth in India, as well as for expansion of exports from India.

Steel Authority of India (SAIL) surged 7.10% to Rs 89.75. The Maharatna PSU's crude steel production rose 6% to 4.55 million tonnes (MT) while its steel sales jumped 14% to 4.27 MT in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20. In line with its focus on reducing the borrowings, the company has reduced its gross debts by around Rs 16,150 crore to stand at Rs 35,330 crore (provisional) as on 31 March 2021 vis-a-vis Rs 51,481 crore as on 31 March 2020.

Hero MotoCorp skid 2.26% to Rs 2891.15. The two-wheeler major reported a 72% increase in total sales at 5,76,957 units in March 2021 from 3,34,647 units sold in the same month last year.

TVS Motor Company shed 0.70% to Rs 584.95. The company's total auto sales grew 122.94% registering 3,22,683 units in March 2021 as against 1,44,739 units in March 2020. While the company's total two-wheeler sales surged 130% recording a sale of 3,07,437 units, three-wheeler sales jumped 42% to 15,246 units in March 2021 over March 2020.

Eicher Motors dropped 4.26% to Rs 2518.60. The sale of Royal Enfield motorcycle soared 84% to 66,058 units in March 2021 from 35,814 units in March 2020.

Escorts declined 2.92% to Rs 1236.55. The company's Construction Equipment segment (ECE) in March 2021 sold 680 machines, its highest ever March sales, and registered a growth of 252.3% as against 193 machines sold in March 2020.

Global Markets:

European stock markets were closed for Easter Monday. Asian shares rallied across the board on Monday as investors cheered a strong bounce in U.S. job growth last month amid accelerating vaccine rollout. Markets in mainland China and Hong Kong were closed for holidays.

Investors monitored the progress of debate over U.S. President Joe Biden's $2.25 trillion infrastructure proposal, as Republicans reportedly expressed guarded support for a more limited plan. The response so far in bond markets has been muted, with inflation concerns easing amid doubts over the viability of more-generous spending, even as central banks remain reportedly committed to keeping interest rates lower for longer.

China is reportedly ramping up its COVID-19 vaccination push, aiming to be twice as fast as the U.S., and a leader of the World Health Organization's program has reportedly said the rollout of shots will be expanded to 100 countries in the next couple of weeks, from 84 at present.

In US, the S&P 500 surged on Thursday to its first-ever close above the 4,000 mark, lifted by gains in Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet, as well as optimism about a recovering U.S. economy.

The Labor Department reported Friday that nonfarm payrolls increased by 916,000 in March, the highest since August 2020, while the unemployment rate fell to 6%.

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