Domestic shares tumbled on Monday as the coronavirus pandemic continued to spook investors. Market participants were concerned about the rising number of COVID-19 cases and the economic fallout of the worldwide lockdowns. After hitting an intraday high of 8,576, the Nifty ended below the 8,300 mark.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slumped 1,375.27 points or 4.61% at 28,440.32. The Nifty 50 index shed 379.15 points or 4.38% at 8,281.10.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Kristalina Georgieva on Friday (27 March) said the world has clearly entered a recession. The COVID-19 pandemic has driven the global economy into a downturn that will require massive funding to help developing nations, she added. Total Covid-19 infections worldwide surpassed 700,000 with more than 34,000 deaths.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-Cap index fell 2.13% and the BSE Small-Cap index lost 1.75%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 930 shares rose and 1351 shares fell. A total of 172 shares were unchanged.

Numbers to Watch:

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 6.21% at 16:51 IST compared with 6.144% at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 75.5925, compared with its close of 74.89 during the previous trading session.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2020 settlement fell $2.20 at $22.73 a barrel. The contract fell $1.41 or 5.35% to settle at $24.93 a barrel during the previous trading session.

Foreign Markets:

European and Asian stocks fell across the board on Monday on weak risk appetite as the death toll from coronavirus pandemic surged, threatening the global economy as roughly one-third of the planet is on lockdown.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday extended the national social distancing guidelines to April 30, walking back his previous remarks that he wanted the country to reopen for business by Easter.

Meanwhile in Europe, the number of deaths from coronavirus in Italy fell for the second consecutive day on Sunday. A national lockdown looks certain to continue beyond April 3.

In US, stock indexes ended sharply lower on Friday, failing to get a lasting lift from approval by Congress of a $2 trillion economic stimulus package to counter the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, but equities booked double-digit weekly gains to take back a chunk of losses seen this month.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Bank index slipped 6.06% to Rs 18,759.70 amid profit booking after a recent rally. The index added 18.04% in four sessions to end at 19,969 on Friday, 27 March 2020.

Among the public sector banks, State Bank of India (down 4.64%), Bank of Baroda (down 3.58%), IDBI Bank (down 3.05%), Canara Bank (down 3.05%), Union Bank of India (down 2.74%), Bank of India (down 2.25%), Central Bank (down 2.02%), Punjab National Bank (down 1.64%) and UCO Bank (down 1.64%) declined.

Among the private banks, Bandhan Bank (down 13.51%), Federal Bank (down 8.44%), HDFC Bank (down 7.96%), ICICI Bank (down 7.67%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 7.29%), RBL Bank (down 6.17%), Yes Bank (down 5.87%) and City Union Bank (down 5.14%) tumbled.

IndusInd Bank added 0.13% to Rs 411.55. CRISIL on 27 March 2020 reaffirmed the credit ratings on the fixed deposits/certificates of deposits/debt instruments of the bank.

IndusInd Bank said its Rs 1,500 crore Infrastructure Bond issue was reaffirmed at CRISIL AA+/Stable. The Rs 2,000 crore Tier-I bonds (under Basel III) was reaffirmed at CRISIL AA/Stable. The Rs 1,000 crore Tier-I bonds (under Basel III) was reaffirmed at CRISIL AA/Stable. The Rs 1,000 crore Tier-I bonds (under Basel III) was reaffirmed at CRISIL AA/Stable. The Rs 40,000 crore certificates of deposits was reaffirmed at CRISIL A1+. The short-term fixed deposit programme was reaffirmed at CRISIL A1+. The announcement was made on Saturday, 28 March 2020.

In a separate filing on Saturday, IndusInd Bank announced that it has paid Rs 156.44 crore as interest due in respect of Additional Tier I Bonds issued on 28 March 2019.

Shares of sugar companies witnessed strong buying demand. KCP Sugar and Industries Corporation (up 20%), E.I.D. Parry (India) (up 10.13%), Balrampur Chini Mills (up 10%), Shree Renuka Sugars (up 9.87%), Sakthi Sugars (up 7.69%), Dwarikesh Sugar Industries (up 5%), Dhampur Sugar Mills (up 4.99%), Triveni Engineering & Industries (up 4.97%), Simbhaoli Sugars (up 4.87%), Rana Sugars (up 4.58%), DCM Shriram Industries (up 3.86%) and Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar (up 0.21%) surged.

The media reported that sugar mills have ramped up production of hand sanitisers to cater its rising demand following the coronavirus outbreak. This could boost revenue of sugar companies.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Other than banks, Bajaj Finance (down 11.95%), HDFC (down 10.92%), Tata Steel (down 8.36%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 6.56%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 6.07%), Reliance Industries (down 3.11%) and TCS (down 2.33%) witnessed major selling.

Lupin rose 2.39%. The drug major on Monday (30 March) announced the receipt of the Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for the company's Inhalation Research Center located at Coral Springs in Florida, USA.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries fell 1.33% to Rs 333.65. The company informed that the company received a communication from the USFDA indicating that the Halol facility has been classified as “Official Action Indicated” (OAI). The OAI classification implies interalia that the USFDA may withhold approval of any pending product applications or supplements filed from this facility till the outstanding observations are resolved. The company continues to manufacture and distribute existing products for the US market, thereby not likely to have any adverse impact on current business from the facility.

Abbott India surged 8.97% to Rs 15400. US-based Abbott on Friday, 27 March 2020, announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has issued Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the fastest available molecular point-of-care test for the detection of novel coronavirus (COVID-19), delivering positive results in as little as five minutes and negative results in 13 minutes.

Cadila Healthcare rose 0.14% to Rs 253.15. The company said it has received a tentative approval from the USFDA to market Carbidopa and Levodopa Extended-Release Capsules. The combination medication is indicated for the treatment of Parkinson's disease or Parkinson-like symptoms (such as shakiness, stiffness, and difficulty moving). The drug will be manufactured at the group's manufacturing facility at SEZ, Ahmedabad.

Hero MotoCorp slumped 5.49% to Rs 1568.95. The company said the operations at its Indian plants will continue to remain suspended beyond 31 March 2020 until 14 April 2020.

Tata Power Company fell 4.71% to Rs 32.35. The company said Adjaristsqali Georgia LLC (AGL), a Joint Venture (JV) between Tata Power, Norway's Clean Energy Invest (CEI) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) announced the start of commercial operation of the 178 MW Shuakhevi Hydro Power Project (Shuakhevi HPP) located in southwest Georgia.

Godfrey Phillips India shed 1.44% to Rs 908.90 after the company said it has suspended operations at all its factories and plant locations in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. The impact on the operations of the company cannot be assessed at this point, it added. The statement was issued before trading hours today, 30 March 2020.

Motherson Sumi Systems tumbled 3.88% to Rs 60.75 after Moody's Investors Service assigned a Ba1 corporate family rating (CFR) to the company and has withdrawn the company's Baa3 issuer rating. At the same time, Moody's has placed the Ba1 CFR under review for further downgrade. The outlook has been revised to rating under review from negative.

Delta Corp hit an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 62.45. The company's board approved a proposal to buyback shares worth up to Rs 125 crore at a price not exceeding Rs 100 per share. The company said it will utilise at least 50% of the amount earmarked as the maximum buyback size for the buyback. Based on the minimum buyback size and maximum buy-back price, the company would purchase a minimum of 62.50 lakh equity shares.