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Sensex, Nifty hold gaining momentum
Mar-31-2020
Indian equity benchmarks were holding their gaining momentum in late morning deals. Domestic sentiments were positive, as the government has relaxed mandatory public procurement norms for five departments and ministries, including health and textiles, till April for buying products that are key to deal with COVID-19 pandemic. Besides, with salary day drawing near, the finance ministry has asked public sector banks to ensure enough cash to meet the heightened demand across the country amid the 21-day lockdown triggered by the coronavirus outbreak. Bank branches have been asked to remain open for facilitating withdrawal of money to be credited through direct benefit transfer to accounts of farmers, old-age person, widow and disabled under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, after the manufacturing sector in China moved back into expansion in March, with a manufacturing PMI score of 52.0 - beating forecasts for 45.0. That's up sharply from 35.7 in February, and it moves back above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The non-manufacturing PMI came in at 52.3, also exceeding expectations for 42.0 and up from 29.6 in the previous month.
 
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29071.02, up by 630.70 points or 2.22% after trading in a range of 28667.36 and 29316.80. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.19%, while Small cap index was up by 1.23%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 5.01%, Energy up by 4.12%, Metal up by 4.02%, IT up by 3.38% and TECK up by 3.05%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 5.12%, Asian Paints up by 4.53%, HCL Tech up by 4.49%, ITC up by 4.01% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.00%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 14.35%, Bajaj Finance down by 3.01%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.83% and Titan down by 0.11% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has opened certain series of government securities (G-secs) for non-resident investors as part of an initiative to deepen the bond market. Accordingly, a separate route namely, Fully Accessible Route (FAR) for investment by non-residents in securities issued by the Government of India has been notified.  The move follows the Union Budget 2020-21 announcement that certain specified categories of Central government securities would be opened fully for non-resident investors without any restrictions, apart from being available to domestic investors as well. This will come under overall foreign portfolio investor (FPI) limit of above 6 percent but those falling under specified securities can be subscribed without any restriction.

This will be effective from the date on which the scheme comes into effect and the directions will come into effect from April 1. The Reserve Bank shall notify the Government securities that shall be eligible for investment under the FAR. These securities will continue to be eligible for investment by residents. ‘Specified securities’, once so designated, shall remain eligible for investment under the FAR until maturity.

In addition, all new issuances of Government securities of 5-year, 10-year and 30-year tenors from the financial year 2020-21 will be eligible for investment under the FAR as ‘specified securities’. The Reserve Bank may add new tenors or change the tenors of new securities to be designated as ‘specified securities’ from time to time. FPIs, Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) and other entities permitted to invest in Government Securities under the Debt Regulations can invest under this route. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8478.85, up by 197.75 points or 2.39% after trading in a range of 8358.00 and 8529.60. There were 45 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 8.72%, Vedanta up by 6.34%, GAIL India up by 5.86%, ONGC up by 5.45% and Hindalco up by 5.24%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 14.97%, Bajaj Finserv down by 3.89%, Bajaj Finance down by 3.01%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.43% and Titan Company was down by 0.23% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Straits Times gained 53.55 points or 2.22% to 2,469.79, Hang Seng surged 264.28 points or 1.14% to 23,439.39, Taiwan Weighted increased 104.81 points or 1.09% to 9,734.24, KOSPI rose 30.72 points or 1.79% to 1,747.84, Jakarta Composite advanced 71.23 points or 1.61% to 4,485.73 and Shanghai Composite soared 11.60 points or 0.42% to 2,758.81, while Nikkei 225 was down by 17.11 points or 0.09% to 19,067.86.
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