F&O expiry: Sensex soars 997 points on Covid-19 drug hopes; auto, IT stocks gain
Indian equity market soared on Thursday, the last day of the futures & options (F&O) contracts of April series, as encouraging early results from a Covid-19 treatment trial boosted investor sentiment. Buying was witnessed across the board with stocks such as Tata Motors, Vedanta, and Hindalco leading the charge.
The S&P BSE Sensex rallied an impressive 997 points or 3 per cent to 33,718 levels. Of 30 constituents, 26 ended in the green and rest 4 in the red. ONGC (up over 13 per cent) emerged as the biggest gainer on the index, followed by HCL Tech (up 11 per cent), Hero MotoCorp (up 9 per cent), and NTPC (up 6 per cent).
On the contrary, Sun Pharma (down nearly 3 per cent) ended as the top loser. HUL, too, ended over 1.6 per cent lower at Rs 2,195.70 ahead of its March quarter results due later in the day.
Reliance Industries (RIL) stock ended nearly 3 per cent higher at Rs 1,467.05 apiece on the BSE. The company is slated to announce March quarter results and consider rights issue later in the day. Further, it has announced that it will reduce the salaries of some of its employees in the hydrocarbon division by 10 per cent in view of the “adverse impact” of the coronavirus pandemic on fuel demand.
NSE’s headline index Nifty surged 307 points or over 3 per cent to settle at 9,860.
On a weekly basis, Sensex zoomed 7.6 per cent and Nifty jumped 7.7 per cent.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index rallied 1.46 per cent to 12,013 levels and the S&P BSE SmallCap index gained over 1 per cent to 11,102-mark.
On the sectoral front, metal stocks advanced the most with the Nifty Metal index surging 8 per cent to 1,859.90 levels. The Nifty Auto index was second on the list – up 6.45 per cent to 5,901 levels.
Markets were closed on Friday on account of Maharashtra Day.
UPL shares gain 11% on biz update and expectation of net debt reduction. The agrochemicals company said its net debt stood at approx. $2.9 billion as of March 31, 2020 as compared to $4.2 billion as on December 31, 2019. Net debt stood at $3.8 billion as of March 31, 2019, it said. The same represents a reduction in net debt of approx. $900 million and $1.3 billion as compared to Q4FY19 and Q3FY20, respectively. The company has cash/cash equivalent of approximately $875 million (approx Rs 6,500 crore) as of March 31, 2020.
Shares of Hindustan Unilever (HUL) were trading lower for the third straight day, down 3.2 per cent to Rs 2,160 on the BSE on Thursday ahead of the announcement of its financial results for the quarter and year ended March 2020 (Q4FY20) later in the day. In the past three trading days, the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) firm’s stock has slipped 7 per cent, as compared to the 6 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.
Shares of Just Dial moved 9 per cent higher in the intra-day trade to Rs 425, on the BSE on Thursday after its board approved buyback of shares at Rs 700 per share via tender offer. “The board today approved the proposal for buyback of up to 3.14 million equity shares, representing 4.84 per cent of the total paid-up equity share capital of the company, at a maximum price of Rs 700 per share, for an aggregate maximum amount of up to Rs 220 crore through the tender offer route,” Just Dial said in an exchange filing.
Shares of Polycab India were locked in 5 per cent upper circuit at Rs 725 on the BSE on Thursday ahead of tomorrow’s board meeting to consider and approve the proposal for investment/acquisition of shares. Till 11:36 am, a combined 134,000 equity shares had changed hands on the counter and there were pending buy orders for around 40,000 shares on the BSE and NSE so far.
Among individual stocks, Tata Motors surged 14.77 per cent to Rs 89.70 in the biggest one-day gain for the stock in six months after reports said that Jaguar Land Rover had restored three-fourth of its budgeted production in China. According to a report in Mint, with lockdown measures easing in China all of its retailers are now open and sales are recovering.
Glenmark zoomed 9% on DCGI nod to conduct clinical trials for Covid-19 drug. The product is a generic version of Avigan of Fujifilm Toyama Chemical, Japan, a subsidiary of Fujifilm Corporation. As on date, Glenmark is the first pharmaceutical company in India to be given approval by the regulator to start the trial on COVID-19 patients in India, the company said in a press release.
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