Closing bell: Indian stocks fell over 2 per cent on Thursday, in line with Asian peers, as unabated panic over the coronavirus pandemic eclipsed steps taken by global central banks to arrest the economic fallout from the outbreak.

The NSE Nifty 50 index ended down 2.35 per cent at 8,269.70, while the S&P BSE Sensex closed 2.01% lower at 28,288.23. About 575 shares have advanced, 1,826 shares declined, and 160 shares are unchanged.

The rupee hit a fresh record low of 75.0100 against the dollar, as a flight into cash and worries about tightening liquidity boosted demand for the world's reserve currency.

All other sectoral indices ended in red, led by Nifty Auto index (down 5.84 per cent).

ITC, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, HDFC Bank and PowerGrid ended higher. At the same time, Bharti Infratel, Zee, Shree Cement, ONGC and BPCL have lost the most.

Sectoral Indices at close

Reddy’s Lab launches single-dose prefilled syringes in US

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories has launched a Naloxone Hydrochloride injection USP in single-dose prefilled syringe format in the US.

The new offer is a therapeutic equivalent generic version of Narcan (naloxone hydrochloride) Injection USP, approved by the US Food & Drug Administration.

IndiGo announces pay cut for senior employees, CEO takes 25% cut

IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta announced on Thursday that the airline was instituting pay cuts for senior employees and he would himself take the highest cut of 25 per cent amid the novel coronavirus pandemic that has hit the aviation industry hard.

“With the precipitous drop in revenues, the very survival of the airline industry is now at stake,” Dutta said in his email to employees. “We have to pay careful attention to our cash flow so that we do not run out of cash.”

“With a great deal of reluctance and a deep sense of regret, we are therefore instituting pay cuts for all employees, excluding Bands A and B, starting April 1, 2020,” the chief executive officer said.

Nifty Call: Buy on dips with fixed stop-loss

The Sensex and the Nifty 50 commenced the session with a large gap-down open, taking bearish cues from the US and Asian markets. Last session, the US indices, the Dow Jones and S&P 500 had nose-dived 6.3 per cent and 5.2 per cent respectively. The Nikkei 225 has slumped 1 per cent to 16.552 levels and Hang Seng has tumbled 2 per cent to 21,834 in today's session. Read more here

Sterlite Technologies to consider share buyback plan, stock jumps 7%

Sterlite Technologies became the first company to have announced a 'share buyback' amidst market rout. In budget, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a 20 per cent tax on buy back of shares.

The past two years saw record buy back of shares, but companies are expected to shun share buy back due to the tax. Sterlite Technologies has now dared to attempt it when such a move is most required to stabalise the share price, analysts said.

Market sell-off: SEBI relaxes corporate governance norms for a month

SEBI has relaxed the norms with regard to compliance for listed companies.

SEBI said it has relaxed norms concerning compliance certificate on share transfer by relaxing it for a month on half-yearly compliance certificates. Another relaxation is for three weeks for companies in resolving investor complaints, relaxation of one month in the submission of annual compliance report and one-month relaxation in filing quarterly corporate governance reports.

"Covid-19 virus has hit the population around the world and has restricted the free movement of people, thereby hampering business and day to day functioning of companies. Development arising due to the spread of the virus has warranted the need for temporary relaxations in compliance

Crude oil rally loses steam as ECB move fails to calm markets

Oil prices pulled back from a massive early rally Thursday as a plan by the European Central Bank to buy huge amounts of bonds failed to calm coronavirus-ravaged markets.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate had surged more than 17 percent at the open in Asian trade, recouping enormous losses Wednesday when prices hit 18-year lows.

But it lost a large chunk of those gains in the afternoon, and was trading up almost 12 per cent at USD 22 a barrel.

International benchmark Brent crude initially jumped 8.5 per cent but lost ground later, and was up 4.6 per cent at USD 26 a barrel in late Asian business.

Reliance Industries shares continue to fall; further tank 8%

Shares of Reliance Industries continued to trade with losses for the fourth consecutive trading session on Thursday, falling further by nearly 8 per cent.

RIL shares tanked 8 per cent to Rs 891 -- its 52-week low -- on the BSE. At the NSE, it declined 7.87 per cent to Rs 892.20 -- its one year low.

A heavy sell-off in the equity market since past few days, has pulled down RIL’s market valuation sharply.

This is the fourth consecutive session of fall for RIL shares which have dropped 19.5 per cent till Thursday.

Last week also, Reliance shares came under massive selling pressure amid plunge in international oil prices.

In just about four months, Reliance Industries market cap has slumped from the highs of Rs 10 lakh crore it hit in November last year. At present, its market valuation is at Rs 5,83,212.61 crore.

Rupee midsession : Rupee slips past 75 level against US dollar amid coronavirus uncertainty.

Broker's call: GHCL (Buy)

The demerger of the textile business would be a major decision for the company as the business has been under stress for some time, remaining a headwind on overall company performance. The soda ash business remains a strong cash generator for GHCL. Read more here

TVS Motor shareholders approve reappointment of Venu Srinivasan as Chairman, MD

TVS Motor Company on Thursday said its shareholders have approved the reappointment of Venu Srinivasan as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the firm.

Majority of the stakeholder approved the reappointment of Srinivasan as CMD of the company for a further period of five years from April 24, 2020, TVS Motor Company said in a filing to BSE.

Dilip Buildcon bags Rs 860-cr road project in Chhattisgarh from NHAI

Highway developer Dilip Buildcon on Thursday said it has bagged a Rs 860.50 crore road project in Chhattisgarh from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

In a regulatory filing the company said it has received the letter of acceptance (LOA) from NHAI for the said road project in Chhattisgarh.

“The company has received the letter of acceptance (LOA) on March 18, 2020 from the NHAI for new Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) project in the state of Chhattisgarh,” the filing said.

Tata Power expands rooftop solar service to 90 cities across India

Tata Power on Thursday said it has expanded its rooftop solar service to 90 cities across the country.

The big rollout from Tata Power comes at a time when consumers across all major categories including commercial, industrial, residential and public sector are adopting solar energy as a reliable and sustainable solution to meet their energy needs that also holds tremendous potential to save costs.

“Preparing for a future-ready India, Tata Power is making a big push for a stronger adoption of clean energy by expanding its rooftop solar offerings to 90 cities,” the power major said in a filing to BSE.

Broker's call: Karur Vysya Bank (Buy)

Karur Vysya Bank is all set to improve its RoA materially in FY21e on the back of —

a) moderation in credit cost owing to declining trend in incremental stress asset formation, notably during 9MFY20 GNPL fell 1 per cent from FY19 closing portfolio and higher provision cover at 56 per cent on existing GNPL portfolio;

b) likely improvement in NIM from December 2019 level due to scope for CD ratio expansion (about76 per cent as at December 2019) and incremental lending in high-yield retail segment; and

c) tight control on cost as reflected in 9.8 per cent CAGR in total operating expenses vs 12.5 per cent CAGR in net revenue between FY14-19. Read more here

No reports of reduction in auto manufacturing due to coronavirus spread: Prakash Javadekar

The Ministry of Heavy Industries has said that there’s been no reduction in automobile production following spread of coronavirus.

In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Tuesday on whether manufacturing in the auto industry is expected to be reduced by around 8.3 per cent due to the spread of coronavirus, Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Heavy Industries, said, “No such estimate of reduction in production has been reported.” Read the full story here

MCX-Nickel dips below a key support

The March futures contract of Nickel on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) has been declining for the past one week after facing the resistance at 50-day moving average price near ₹970. The contract remains below 21- and 50-day moving averages, which is a pointer to bearish outlook.

EUGMP certificate may boost IOL Chemicals

IOL Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals on Wednesday said that National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition, Hungary, has renewed the EUGMP Certification for Ibuprofen, Lamotrigine and Metformin Hydrochloride products. Besides, it also approved the company's recently launched products such as fenofibrate, clopidogrel hydrogen sulfate and pantoprazole sodium sesquihydrate. With this, the company will have more penetration in the European market, IOL Chemicals said.

Daily Rupee call: Sell on intraday rallies

The rupee (INR) has opened lower today, at 74.96 versus Wednesday’s close of 74.23 against the dollar (USD). Immediately after the open, it recorded its lifetime low of 74.98 against the greenback.

Rupee plunges 70 paise to 74.96 against US dollar

The Indian rupee plunged 70 paise to 74.96 against US dollar in early trade on Thursday as investors fretted over the sharp rise in coronavirus cases in the country and its impact on the economy. Read more here

FII Data: As per the market data, the foreign investors remained net sellers in Indian capital markets as they pulled out more than ₹5,085.35 crore on Wednesday.

Oriental Refractories to move NCLAT for merger

Shares of Oriental Refractories will remain in focus, as the company has decided to appeal against an NCLT order. Earlier, the scheme of amalgamation and arrangement between Orient Refractories and RHI India Private Ltd and RHI Clasil Private Ltd and their respective shareholders were rejected by the Mumbia bench of National Company Law Tribunal. Oriental Refractories has decided to file an appeal to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal against the order.

Covid-19 impact: Will ₹1-lakh threshold for insolvency plea under IBC be reviewed?

In a bid to avoid frivolous applications under the IBC, one of the amendments to the insolvency law passed in Parliament on March 13 — the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Act, 2020 — put in place a minimum threshold for certain class of creditors to initiate insolvency proceedings. Read more here

Markets update: Indian shares sinked in line with other markets on Thursday, as a global selloff triggered by fears over the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic showed little sign of abating.

At 9.43 am , the NSE index were down 6.18%. The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index, which fell 5.5% on Wednesday, has plumbed multi-year lows and shed 30% this year.

Globally, the dollar surged, bonds plunged and markets struggled to find their footing on Thursday as the European Central Bank's latest promise of stimulus provided only brief solace.

The virus outbreak has claimed more than 8,000 lives globally, disrupting business and ravaging markets worldwide. In India, it has killed three and infected more than 130 people.

Opening bell: There’s no stopping carnage on Indian stock market after coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent global sell-offs.

At 9.20 am, the Sensex was quoted at 27,332.19, down 1537 points or 5.33 per cent. The Nifty too fell 442 points or 5.22 per cent at 8,026.

Dollar surges, stocks fall as ECB fails to stop panic

The dollar surged, bonds plunged, and global markets struggled to find their footing on Thursday as the European Central Bank's latest promise of stimulus provided only brief solace while the world struggles to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. stock futures fell 2 per cent. The Australian dollar was crushed, falling 3.3 per cent to a more than 17-year low, and Asian markets gave up initial gains made after the ECB had announced a bond-buying programme. Read more here

Day Trading Guide for March 19, 2020

₹878 • HDFC Bank

₹535 • Infosys

₹150 • ITC

₹65 • ONGC

₹968 • Reliance Ind.

₹214 • SBI

₹1650 • TCS

8433 • Nifty 50 Futures

S1, S2 : Support 1 & 2; R1, R2: Resistance 1 & 2.

Oil India (₹83.1): Buy

Investors with a short-term view and contrarian stance can buy the stock of Oil India at current levels. Triggered by positive divergence in the daily relative strength index, the stock jumped 16 per cent with above average volume on Wednesday. Besides, there has been an increase in daily volume over the past one month. Read more here

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