The domestic equity benchmarks ended with minor gains after a volatile day on Thursday. Metal stocks surged while banks and financials corrected. The Nifty closed below the 14,900 mark.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, gained 84.45 points or 0.17% to 49,746.21. The Nifty 50 index rallied 56.70 points or 0.38% to 14,875.75.

The broader market rallied. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.60%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.73%.

Buyers outnumbered sellers. On the BSE, 1873 shares rose and 1046 shares fell. A total of 166 shares were unchanged.

Investors risk appetite improved after the minutes of last month's meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve suggested that Fed officials were united on the need to see more progress on economic recovery before scaling back their bond-buying program.

Domestic sentiment also received a boost after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday kept its monetary policy accommodative to support economic growth.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 13,31,31,285 with 28,87,888 deaths. India reported 9,10,319 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,66,862 deaths while 1,18,51,393 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

India detected 1,26,789 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the highest so far. Of the total, Maharashtra recorded a new high of 59,907 cases, while Chhattisgarh's count went past the 10,000-mark for the first time. Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, too, reported more than 6,000 cases. The country also recorded 685 related deaths.

Primary Market:

The initial public offer (IPO) of Macrotech Developers received bids for 1.09 crore shares as against 3.64 crore shares on offer, according to the stock exchange data at 15:20 IST on Thursday (8 April 2021). The issue was subscribed 0.30 times.

The issue opened for bidding on Wednesday, 7 April 2021, and it will close on Friday, 9 April 2021. The price band for the IPO is set at Rs 483-486 per share. An investor can bid for a minimum of 30 equity shares and in multiples thereof.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index jumped 4.13% to 4,504.10, extending gains for ninth day. The index has added 21.16% in nine sessions.

Jindal Steel & Power (up 7.38%), SAIL (up 6.68%), Tata Steel (up 5.42%), Hindalco Industries (up 3.92%), Welspun Corp (up 3.68%), NMDC (up 3.33%), Mishra Dhatu Nigam (up 3.20%), Hindustan Zinc (up 3.07%), National Aluminum Co. (up 2.28%), APL Apollo Tubes (up 2.01%) and MOIL (up 1.15%) advanced.

JSW Steel gained 9.42% to Rs 615.25. The steel major's crude steel production jumped 6% to 4.19 million tonnes (MT) in Q4 FY21 from 3.97 million tonnes (MT) in Q4 FY20. The company's average capacity utilisation improved to 93% for Q4 FY21 from 91% of Q3 FY21. However, the capacity utilisation during the month of March 2021 stood at 96%.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Muthoot Finance rose 2.66% at Rs 1236.55. The NBFC announced its 25th series of public issue of secured redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of face value of Rs 1,000 each. The issue is with a base issue size of Rs 100 crore with an option to retain oversubscription up to Rs 1600 crore aggregating up to tranche limit of Rs 1700 crore. The funds raised through this issue will be utilized primarily for lending activities of the company. The issue opens on 08th April, 2021 and closes on 29th April, 2021 with an option to close on such earlier date or extended date as may be decided by the board of directors or NCD committee,” the non-banking finance company said in a statement.

Kalyan Jewellers India jumped 4.01% to Rs 72.70. The jewellery maker witnessed a robust increase in consumer demand in Q4 FY 2021, resulting in a revenue growth of approximately 60% for India operations, as compared to the same quarter in the prior year. The company believes a significant driver of recent revenue growth momentum in India has been a meaningful shift in consumer demand from the unorganized to the organized segment, which has been evident in the increase in footfalls seen across the company's store network.

Cadila Healthcare added 1.99% to Rs 470.45. The pharma company announced that it has received final approval from the USFDA to market macitentan tablets, 10 mg. The drug is used to manage the symptoms of pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Ashok Leyland jumped 5.61% to Rs 123.30. The commercial vehicles maker's subsidiary Switch Mobility, the U.K. based EV producer of buses and vans, announced its global expansion plans into India and its plan to create two subsidiary companies. The first, Switch Mobility Automotive, is being formed to carry on the EV strategy in India, which forms part of its global entity. The second is OHM Global Mobility, which will focus on providing mobility as a Service offering.

Minda Corporation rose 1.24% to Rs 101.90. the company announced its partnership with Israel-based Ride Vision, a leading ADAS (rider assistance systems) solutions company, to bring its range of artificial intelligence-enabled collision avoidance technology products for the Indian two-wheeler market.

Hester Biosciences jumped 9.92% to Rs 2212.70. The company announced signing of agreement with ICAR-IVRI (Indian Council of Agri Research - Indian Veterinary Research Institute) for acquiring technologies for the production and commercialisation of classical swine fever vaccine & sheep pox vaccine.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia advanced on Thursday. Meanwhile, shares in Japan declined amid concerns that Tokyo is reportedly planning stricter steps to curb rising virus infections.

In the US, the S&P 500 gained to hit a record high on Wednesday. The U.S. Federal Reserve released minutes from its March 16-17 meeting during which it kept its accommodative policy in place. The meeting summary indicated that while officials saw the economy was gaining considerably, they see much more progress needed before ultra-easy policy changes.

President Joe Biden recently unveiled details of his $2 trillion infrastructure plan that includes a corporate tax rate hike to 28%. He said Wednesday that he is willing to negotiate on the proposed tax increase.

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