The domestic equities were trading with modest losses in afternoon trade. At 13:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 211.95 points or 0.44% at 48,332.11. The Nifty 50 index lost 64.40 points or 0.44% at 14,440.40.

Infosys (down 3.51%), Reliance Industries (down 0.43%) and Maruti Suzuki India (down 2.84%) were major drags.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index skid 0.64%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.35%.

Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 997 shares rose and 1,759 shares fell. A total of 156 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 730.81 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 243.80 crore in the Indian equity market on 13 April 2021, provisional data showed.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 13,82,78,420 with 29,73,179 deaths. India reported 14,71,877 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,73,123 deaths while 1,24,29,564 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

India on Wednesday reported 2,00,739 new COVID-19 cases and 1,038 deaths in last 24 hours, according to data from the Union Health Ministry.

The total COVID-19 vaccinations have crossed the 11.43 crore mark with more than 31.39 lakh vaccine doses were administered till 8 PM yesterday. A total of 69,974 COVID Vaccination Centres (CVCs) were operational, marking a rise of an average of 24,000 operational Vaccination Centres ( 45,000 CVCs on an average are functional on any given day). Workplace vaccinations have also enabled a high turnout of beneficiaries.

Economy:

India's wholesale price-based inflation shot up to over 8-year high of 7.39% in March on rising crude oil and metal prices. This is the third straight month of up-tick seen in the wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation. The WPI inflation was 4.17% in February and 0.42% in March 2020.

The prices of crude oil, petroleum products and basic metal substantially increased in March 2021 compared with the corresponding month of last year. Also, due to nationwide lockdown, the WPI index for the month of March 2020 (120.4) was computed with relatively low response rate.

Gainers & Losers:

Cipla (up 3.15%), ONGC (up 2.45%), Divi's Laboratories (up 2.19%) and TCS (up 2.19%) were major gainers in Nifty 50 index.

Grasim Industries (down 4.65%), Eicher Motors (down 4.16%), Ultratech Cement (down 2.94%) and IndusInd Bank (down 2.89%) were major losers in Nifty 50 index.

Nifty Result Today:

IT major Wipro was up 2.79% ahead of its quarterly result today.

Earning Impact:

Infosys skid 3.51%. On a consolidated basis, the IT major reported 2.3% decline in net profit to Rs 5,076 crore on 1.5% increase in revenues to Rs 26,311 crore in Q4 March 2021 over Q3 December 2020. The company's consolidated net profit rose 17.5% and revenues rose 13.1% in Q4 March 2021 over Q4 March 2020. In its outlook for FY22, Infosys has guided for 12% to 14% sales growth in constant currency terms in 2021-22 and an operating margin band of 22% to 24%.

The company reported 15.2% voluntary attrition rate for the quarter ended 31 March. It was 10% during the October-December quarter, Infosys said in the regulatory filing. The total number of employees at Bengaluru-based company stood at over 2.59 lakh as on 31 March, 2021.

Stocks in Spotlight:

UPL slipped 0.12%. The Queensland Supreme Court has ruled in favour of Advanta Seeds, a subsidiary of UPL. The company, in a regulatory filing, said that: We are pleased that the Supreme Court of Queensland in Australia has dismissed a class action litigation against Advanta Seeds Pty Ltd, Company's subsidiary in Australia. This class action, funded by a UK based litigation funder, alleged that seeds sold by Advanta in 2010/2011 to certain growers in Queensland and News South Wales region of Australia, were contaminated.

Larsen & Toubro Infotech (L&T Infotech) dropped 2.30%. The board approved the appointment of Anil Rander as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Key Managerial Personnel (KMP) of the company.

Tata Motors fell 0.83%. The Tata Motors Group global wholesales in Q4 FY21, including Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), stood at 3,30,125 units, higher by 43%, compared with Q4 FY20. Global wholesales of Tata Motors' commercial vehicles and Tata Daewoo range in Q4 FY21 were at 1,09,428, higher by 55% over Q4 FY20. Global wholesales of all passenger vehicles in Q4 FY21 stood at 2,20,697 as against Q4 FY20, registering a growth of 39% year-on-year (Y-o-Y).

Global wholesales for Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) were at 1,36,461 vehicles (JLR number for Q4 FY21 includes CJLR volumes of 13,772 units). Jaguar wholesales for the quarter were 31,814 vehicles, while Land Rover wholesales for the quarter were 1,04,647 vehicles. The luxury brand JLR brings in most of Tata Motor's revenue.

Global Markets:

European shares were trading higher while most Asian stocks advanced on Thursday, 15 April 2021. In the US, Wall Street indexes closed mixed on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 falling despite another record intraday high for the latter and big banks' stellar results on the first day of earnings season.

Shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Wells Fargo & Co rose on bumper first-quarter profits. Goldman capitalized on record levels of global deal making activity, and Wells reduced bad loan provisions and got a grip on costs tied to its sales practices scandal.

The Federal Reserve will continue to support the recovery, and will start tapering asset purchases well before policy makers consider raising interest rates, Chairman Jerome Powell told the Economic Club of Washington Wednesday.

In coronavirus developments, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention panel decided Wednesday to postpone a decision on Johnson and Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine following the development of a rare but potentially life-threatening blood-clotting disorder in six women. On Tuesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration asked states to temporarily halt using J&J's COVID-19 vaccine out of an abundance of caution.

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