Stock Market Today: Benchmarks end almost flat; Sensex fall 64 points & Nifty ends in green at 14,634

Benchmark indices staged a strong recovery in late trade and ended with tiny losses after a volatile session on Monday, April 3, 2021. The S&P BSE Sensex fell 63.84 points or 0.13 per cent to 48,718.52. The Nifty 50 index closed 3.05 points or 0.02 per cent higher at 14,634.15. The Nifty Bank index closed 316.05 points or 0.96 per cent higher at 32,465.75.

Despite weakness in the benchmarks, the overall market strength favoured bulls amid outperformance in the broader markets. The S&P BSE SmallCap index, for instance, ended 1.57 per cent higher. The S&P BSE MidCap index, on the other hand, settled 0.05 per cent higher.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1,826 shares rose and 1,217 shares fell. On the Nifty 50 index, 29 shares advanced and 21 shares declined. The top five gainers on Nifty were SBI Life (up 5.43 per cent), Bharti Airtel (up 4.53 per cent), Adani Ports (up 4.51 per cent), Tata Steel (up 3.20 per cent) and Maruti (up 2.24 per cent). The top five losers were Titan (down 4.56 per cent), IndusInd Bank (down 2.29 per cent), Reliance (down 1.93 per cent), Axis Bank (down 1.59 per cent) and BPCL (down 1.34 per cent).

COVID-19 update

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide were at 15,28,75,042 with 32,02,699 deaths. India reported 34,13,642 active cases of Covid-19 infection and 2,18,959 deaths while 1,62,93,003 patients have been discharged, data showed.

As the United States continues to deliver vital medical supplies to India to support its fight against COVID-19, a flight from America carrying 1.25 lakh vials of an anti-viral drug Remdesivir landed in India yesterday. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted that the fourth flight from the US arrives carrying 1.25 lakh vials of Remdesivir. He welcomed this support from the United States.

On Saturday night, a flight from the US, carrying 1,000 oxygen cylinders, regulators and other medical equipment landed in India. Earlier on Friday, the US deployed its first two planes carrying the initial emergency relief supplies including oxygen cylinders, regulators, and pulse oximeters donated by California, and rapid diagnostic tests and N95 masks.

IHS Markit India Manufacturing PMI

The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) was reported at 55.5 in April 2021, little changed from March's reading of 55.4, indicating a solid improvement in the health of the sector. Consumer goods were the strongest-performing category, followed by capital goods and then intermediate goods.

GST Revenue

The gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue collected in April is at a record high of Rs 1,41,384 crore. Of this, CGST is 27,837 crore, SGST is 35,621 crore, IGST is 68,481 crore and Cess is Rs 9,445 crore. Revenues for April this year are 14 per cent higher than the GST revenues in March 2021.

Major markets in China, Japan and Britain were closed for holidays.