Benchmark domestic stocks surge more than one and a half per cent

Benchmark domestic stocks on Tuesday, January 19, 2021, surged more than one and a half per cent, recovering the losses of the last two sessions. The Sensex and Nifty logged gains amid positive global cues.

The S&P BSE Sensex closed 834.02 points, or 1.72 per cent, up at 49,398.29. The NSE Nifty 50 also climbed 239.85 points, or 1.68 per cent, to trade at 14,521.15. The Nifty 50 gained 613.10 points, or 1.93 per cent, to close 32,424.85.

The broader market at BSE also gained. The BSE Mid-Cap index jumped 2.31 per cent and the BSE Small-Cap index rose 1.66 per cent.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 2,124 shares rose and 874 shares fell. A total of 148 shares were unchanged. On the Nifty 50 index, 46 shares advanced and 4 declined. The top five gainers on Nifty 50 block were Bajaj Finserv (up 6.76 per cent), Bajaj Finance (up 5.26 per cent), Tata Motors (up 5.20 per cent), Hindalco (up 3.62 per cent) and Sun Pharma (up 3.53 per cent). The four stocks that declined were ITC (down 0.36 per cent), Tech Mahindra (down 0.28 per cent) and Mahindra & Mahindra (down 0.05 per cent).

COVID-19 update

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 9,55,55,763 with 20,40,669 deaths. India reported 2,00,556 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,52,556 deaths, while 1,02,28,753 patients have been discharged.

Indian Economy

India's 2020-21 sugar production till 15 January 2021 is up by 33.76 lakh tonnes or 31 per cent compared to the same period of the previous sugar season (October to September), according to the latest update from the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA). A total of 487 sugar mills are in 33.76 lakh tonnes operation in the country as on January 15, 2021, and have produced 142.70 lakh tonnes of sugar, as compared to 108.94 lakh tonnes produced by 440 sugar mills as on January 15, 2020.

IRFC IPO update

The Rs 4,633 crore Initial Public Offer (IPO) of Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) was subscribed 1.22 times on the second day of subscription by 5:00 pm. IRFC public issue closes on January 20, 2021. IRFC, the dedicated market borrowing arm of the Indian Railways, is offering up to 178.2 crore shares of the face value of Rs 10 each. The issue price for the offer has been kept at Rs 25-26 apiece. The lot size is 575 and bids can be made for a minimum of 575 equity shares and in multiples of 575 equity shares thereafter. The application money per lot is Rs 14,950 at Rs 26 per share.

It comprises fresh issue of up to 118.8 crore shares and an offer for sale of up to 59.4 crore equity shares by the government of India. Post-IPO, the shareholding of government will come down to 86.4 per cent, from 100 per cent earlier.