As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, zoomed 834 points or 1.72% to 49,398.67. The Nifty 50 index surged 239.85 points or 1.68% at 14,521.70.

Bajaj Finserv (up 6.77%), Bajaj Finance (up 5.36%), HDFC (up 3.56%) and Reliance Industries (up 1.56%) were major market movers.

The rally was broad based. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index soared 2.31% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.65%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 2,117 shares rose and 881 shares fell. A total of 148 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 9,55,55,763 with 20,40,669 deaths. India reported 2,00,528 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,52,556 deaths while 1,02,28,753 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Economy:

India's 2020-21 sugar production till 15 January 2021 is up by 33.76 lakh tonnes or 31% compared to the same period of the previous sugar season (October to September), according to a 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 15 January 2021 and have produced 142.70 lakh tonnes of sugar, as compared to 108.94 lakh tonnes produced by 440 sugar mills as on 15 January 2020.

Primary Market:

The initial public offer (IPO) of Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) received bids for 129.74 crore shares as against 124.75 crore shares on offer on Monday (18 January 2021), according to the stock exchange data at 15:15 IST. The issue was subscribed 1.04 times.

The issue opened for subscription yesterday (18 January 2021) and it will close on Wednesday (20 January 2021). The price band for the IPO is set at Rs 25-26 per share. An investor can bid for minimum of 575 equity shares and in multiples thereof. The stock will list on 2 February 2021 on bourses.

The IPO consists of fresh issue of up to 118.80 crore equity shares and an offer of sale of up to 59.40 crore equity shares by the Government of India. Post issue, the government shareholding in the company will fall to 86.4%. The company proposes to utilize the net proceeds from the offer for augmenting equity capital base to meet future capital requirements arising out of growth in business.

Results Today:

ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company (down 0.97%), L&T Infotech (up 1.85%), Skipper (up 3.45%), Tata Communications (down 0.08%), Tata Steel BSL (up 3.19%), Network18 Media & Investments (up 5.6%) and TV18 Broadcast (up 3.59%) are some of the companies that will announce their results today.

Earnings Impact:

Mindtree gained 1.25% after the IT company's consolidated net profit rose 28.7% to Rs 326.5 crore on 5% increase in revenue to Rs 2,023.7 crore in Q3 December 2020 (Q3 FY21) over Q2 September 2020 (Q2 FY21). EBITDA grew 23.7% to Rs 467.9 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q2 FY21. Profit before tax (PBT) in Q3 FY21 stood at Rs 445.1 crore, up by 29.1% from Rs 344.7 crore in Q2 FY21. In dollar terms, the revenue stood at $274.1 million, registering a growth of 5% quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) and a decline of 0.4% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in Q3 FY21. The net profit stood at $44.2 million, recording a growth of 28.6% Q-o-Q and 59.3% Y-o-Y in Q3 FY21. The company reported strong deal wins of $312 million, crossing $1 billion YTD. There are currently 276 active clients as of 31 December 2020. Mindtree said that it added eight new clients during the quarter.

Alembic Pharma fell 3.4%. The drug maker reported 25% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 293 crore on a 9% rise in net sales to Rs 1314 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. The company's international formulations business grew 3% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 683 crore while the ex-US international formulations business grew 14% YoY to Rs 171 crores in the quarter. The firm received 8 ANDA approvals received during the quarter taking the cumulative to 137 ANDA approvals. During Q3 FY21, Alembic's India formulations business grew 14% YoY to Rs 418 crore with specialty segments growing by 16%, led by cardio, diabeto, gyanaec and gastro segments. API business grew 21 %to Rs 214 crores in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. The company filed 4 drug master files (DMF) taking the cumulative to 115 DMFs.

IndiaMART InterMESH fell 0.42%. The company reported 29.35% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 80.20 crore on 9.2% rise in total income to Rs 198.20 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. Consolidated EBITDA jumped 100% to Rs 88 crore in Q3 December 2020 from Rs 44 crore in Q3 December 2019. The firm's EBITDA margin surged to 51% in Q3 December 2020 from 26% in Q3 December 2019. On the operational front, IndiaMART registered a traffic growth of 35% year on year with 253 million in Q3 December 2020 as compared to 188 million in Q3 December 2019. Total business enquiries delivered increased to 154 million in Q3 December 2020 from 112 million in Q3 December 2019, registering a growth of 37%. Supplier storefronts grew to 6.4 million in Q3 December 2020, an increase of 9% year on year.

CSB Bank rose 1.19% after the bank reported 88.5% jump in net profit to Rs 53.05 crore on a 36.4% rise in total income to Rs 599.24 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. Net interest income improved 61.8% to Rs 251.20 crore in Q3 December 2020 from Rs 155.20 crore in Q3 December 2019. Operating profit in the third quarter stood at Rs 182.4 crore, up by 160.5% from Rs 70 crore in the same period last year. Provisions and contingencies surged 303.7% to Rs 111.47 crore in Q3 December 2020 from Rs 27.61 crore in Q3 December 2019. Of this, the provisions for non-performing assets increased by 59.3% to Rs 56.21 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20.

Bank of Maharashtra surged 6.7% after the bank's net profit jumped 14.07% to Rs 154 crore on a 3.41% rise in total income to Rs 3,577 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. The bank posted a pre-tax profit of Rs 404 crore in Q3 FY21 as against a pre-tax loss of Rs 75 crore in Q3 FY20. Tax outgo during the quarter was Rs 250 crore. Operating profit improved by 7.13% to Rs 902 crore in Q3 December 2020 from Rs 842 crore in Q3 December 2019. The cost-to-income ratio stood at 51.92% in the December quarter as against 48.31% in the same period last year, mainly due to one-time expenditure of Rs 230 crore on account of wage revision arrears payable to retired employee.

On the asset quality side, gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at Rs 8,072.43 crore as on 31 December 2020 as against Rs 9,105.44 crore as on 30 September 2020 and Rs 15,745.54 crore as on 31 December 2019. Provisions & contingencies dropped 45.69% to Rs 498 crore in the third quarter as compared to the same period last year. Provision coverage ratio improved to 90% as on 31 December 2020 as against 83% as on 31 December 2019. The same was 87% as on 30 September 2020.

Vishwaraj Sugar Industries jumped 6.79% after the company's net profit soared 162% to Rs 30.46 crore on 18.6% decline in net sales to Rs 82.75 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. Profit before tax zoomed 169% to Rs 31.30 crore in Q3 December 2020 from Rs 11.63 crore registered in Q3 December 2019. Current tax expense in quarter ended December 2020 stood at Rs 0.83 crore.

Global Markets:

European stocks were mixed on Tuesday, buoyed by hopes that an economic recovery following the coronavirus pandemic is not far off.

Asian market mostly advanced on Tuesday as investors await remarks from U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for Treasury secretary, Janet Yellen.

On the coronavirus front, the head of the World Health Organization warned Monday of a "catastrophic moral failure" due to unfair vaccine rollouts.

The U.S. stock market was closed on Monday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.