The benchmark indices reversed gains and slipped into the negative territory in afternoon trade. Rising COVID-19 cases dented investors sentiment. At 13:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, skid 169.47 points or 0.35% at 48,549.05. The Nifty 50 index lost 2.40 points or 0.02% at 14,631.75.
Reliance Industries (RIL) (down 1.48%), HDFC Bank (down 1%) and Infosys (down 0.77%) were major drags.
The broader market declined. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.10%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.06%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,509 shares rose and 1,328 shares fell. A total of 171 shares were unchanged.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 2,289.46 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 552.92 crore in the Indian equity market on 3 May 2021, provisional data showed.
COVID-19 Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 15,35,59,931 with 32,13,613 deaths. India reported 34,47,133 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 2,22,408 deaths while 1,66,13,292 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
India on Monday reported 3,57,229 fresh COVID-19 cases. With this, the cumulative caseload nears 20.3 million, according to MoHFW. In the past seven days alone, India has added 26,13,415 infections to its tally. As many as 3,438 deaths were reported. The country now has 3.44 million active cases.
The six most affected states by total cases are Maharashtra (4,771,022), Kerala (1,664,789), Karnataka (1,601,865), Uttar Pradesh (1,313,487), Tamil Nadu (1,207,112), and Delhi (1,194,552).
Meanwhile, Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 got suspended on Tuesday after 4 players and other non-playing staff involved in the tournament tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 48 hours. A total of 29 out of 60 matches could be played in the 14th edition of the IPL.
Economy:
Due to slow pace of vaccinations and uncertainty around the number of those infected and dead in the second COVID-19 wave, global brokerage firm Barclays cut India's FY22 GDP growth estimate to 10% from earlier 11%. If the ongoing localised lockdowns continue till June 2021, it will lead to economic losses amounting to $38.4 billion, it said.
In a more pessimistic scenario of the pandemic not being brought under control soon and mobility restrictions continuing till August 2021, the growth can fall to 8.8%, Barclays warned. The country's economy is estimated to contract by 7.6% in FY21 as the pandemic-induced lockdowns led to chilling of economic activity, hurt jobs and demand.
Gainers & Losers:
Bajaj Finance (up 2.97%), State Bank of India (SBI) (up 2.64%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) (up 2.13%), SBI Life Insurance Company (up 2.10%) and Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 1.60%) were major gainers in Nifty 50 index.
Tata Consumer Products (down 3.83%), Cipla (down 3.03%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 1.62%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 1.41%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) (down 1.31%) were major losers in Nifty 50 index.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Home First Finance Company India surged 5.94% after the company's net profit surged 150.8% to Rs 31 crore in Q4 FY21 from Rs 12 crore in Q4 FY20. Total income during the quarter increased by 28.1% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 136 crore. Disbursement in Q4 FY21 were at Rs 452 crore, up by 30.4% from Rs 347 crore in Q4 FY20. Collection efficiency has improved further to 98.5% in March 2021 from 97.6% in December 2020. Bounce rates have improved to 17.3% in Q4 FY21 from 20.1% in Q3 FY21. Asset under management (AUM) registered a growth of 14.4% to Rs 4,141 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20.
ICICI Bank rose 0.32%. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 3 crore on the private sector lender. The penalty, imposed under section of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, has been levied for shifting certain investments from HTM category to AFS category in May 2017. The bank had transferred two separate categories of securities on two different dates from HTM to AFS in April and May of 2017, which it believed was permissible as per Master Circular on Prudential Norms for Classification, Valuation and Operation of Investment Portfolio by Banks' dated 1 July 2015. RBI has held that the shifting of securities the second time in May 2017 without explicit permission was in contravention of RBI directions.
Global Markets:
Shares in Europe and Asia were mixed on Tuesday, 4 May 2021, as investors monitor global recovery prospects and a fresh round of corporate earnings. Major markets in Japan and China were closed for holidays.
In US, the S&P 500 and the Dow indexes ended higher on Monday amid a largely upbeat earnings season, while the Nasdaq came under pressure from declines in some high-flying growth stocks, as the rotation into cyclical and economy reopening stocks continued.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that most capacity restrictions will be lifted across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, while 24-hour subway service will resume in New York City later this month.
The U.S. economy is doing better but is not out of the woods yet, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reportedly said on Monday in remarks that flagged an upcoming central bank study documenting the disproportionate blow suffered by the less educated and working parents during the coronavirus downturn.
U.S. manufacturing activity grew at a slower pace in April. The ISM's index of national factory activity fell to a reading of 60.7 last month after surging to 64.7 in March, which was the highest level since December 1983.
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