Equity Benchmarks closed in green; Sensex gains 260 points & Nifty trades closed at 14,581

Domestic benchmark indices rose about 0.50 per cent today in volatile trade amid mixed global cues. The Sensex at Bombay Stock Exchange closed above the 48,800 mark while the Nifty at National Stock Exchange settled near the 14,600 level.

The Sensex gained 259.62 points, or 0.53 per cent, and closed at 48,803.68. The Nifty 50 also appreciated 76.65 points, or 0.53 per cent, to settle at 14,581.45. The Nifty Bank index also rose 341.25 points, or 1.07 per cent, to 32,122.85.

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and the SmallCap index ended flat.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1255 shares rose and 1638 shares fell. On the Nifty 50 index, 28 shares advanced and 22 shares declined. The top five gainers on Nifty 50 were TCS (up 3.96 per cent), Wipro (up 3.52 per cent), Cipla (up 3.25 per cent), ONGC (up 2.84 per cent) and ICICI Bank (up 2.70 per cent). The top five losers were Grasim (down 3.10 per cent), Eicher Motors (down 3 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (down 2.54 per cent), Infosys (down 2.42 per cent) and IndusInd Bank (down 2.10 per cent).

COVID-19 Update

Total Covid-19 confirmed cases worldwide were at 138,056,297 with 2,971,539 deaths. India reported 14,71,877 active cases of Covid-19 infection and 173,123 deaths while 124,29,564 patients have been discharged, data showed.

WPI Inflation in India

India's wholesale price-based inflation shot up to over an eight-year high of 7.39 per cent in March on rising crude oil and metal prices. This is the third straight month of up-tick seen in the wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation. The WPI inflation was 4.17 per cent in February and 0.42 per cent in March 2020.

Fed's Support to Recovery

The Federal Reserve will continue to support the recovery, and will start tapering asset purchases "well before" policymakers consider raising interest rates, Chairman Jerome Powell told the Economic Club of Washington on Wednesday.

Job Situation in Australia

Australia is one of the first nations to regain all jobs lost through the pandemic, reflecting a successful early suppression of Covid-19 and a massive fiscal-monetary shot that has sent the economy roaring back. Employment and hours worked in March were higher than in the same month of 2020, government data showed in Sydney on Thursday. Unemployment in Australia fell to 5.6 per cent last month -- exceeding economists' estimates -- despite the participation rate climbing to a record high 66.3 per cent. The result highlights the profound connection between the health of a nation and its economy as Australia has limited community transmissions of COVID-19 to isolated flare-ups.