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Sensex Zooms 1,628 Points; Energy, IT and FMCG Stocks Rally

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Indian share markets continued to trade in the green during closing hours and ended their day on a strong note.

Benchmark indices rose over 5.5% today, tracking overseas trend as investors banked on measures announced by policymakers worldwide to prevent the virus outbreak.

Global stock markets recovered overnight from steep falls after central banks in Europe, Japan, Australia and the United States launched a fresh wave of stimulus to help businesses battered by a near halt in economic activity due to the virus outbreak.

Sentiment also got a boost after reports suggested that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at her meet with the task force today, is likely to announce measures relative to various industries that are affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

On the sectoral front, gains were largely seen in the energy sector, IT sector and FMCG sector.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 1,628 points (up 5.8%) and the NSE Nifty closed higher by 486 points (up 5.9%).

The BSE Mid Cap index ended up by 4.2%, while the BSE Small Cap index ended the day up by 4%.

Asian stock markets finished on a positive note as of the most recent closing prices. The Hang Seng was up 4.9% and the Shanghai Composite stood higher by 1.6%.

The rupee was trading at 75.02 to the US$ at the time of writing.

Here's what Richa Agarwal, our smallcap analyst at Equitymaster, has to say about the ongoing market crash and what it means for stock market participants...

• ...at a time when you see the Sensex and large cap stocks taking big knocks, you will be completely surprised at another feature of the market.
  
  It has flown under the radar for most investors so far...
  
  Small cap stocks, which were already cheap and attractive, have now become downright ridiculously priced!
  
  Many of them offer massive gains to those who will buy at current prices.
  
  And I'm not even talking about the weak companies...
  
  I'm talking about strong companies with ultra-strong balance sheets. Businesses strong enough to weather the oncoming coronavirus storm - whatever it throws at them.
  
  Looks like the perfect time for the opportunistic investor to pick up some good bargains!

Richa believes the best approach right now is to consider investing in stocks that are fundamentally strong and promise steady income along with strong upside in the long term.

She has identified one such stock that has the potential to return crores in the long term. To know more, click here for all the details.

Also, Richa's latest webinar - Smallcap Rebound Opportunity in the Times of Coronavirus shares a list of open positions where the rebound potential is strong... And until the rebound, one can enjoy regular income from the dividend stocks with yields up to 9%.

And here's what Tanushree Banerjee wrote about the coronavirus pandemic and its effects on the global economy in a recent edition of The 5 Minute WrapUp...

• ...pandemics have had profound economic effects. But in the longer term, the economic effects can be positive.
  
  Is the assumption that Coronavirus could lead to such a massive social and economic change too farfetched?
  
  Not at all!
  
  In fact, the outbreak of Coronavirus exposed the underbelly of the fragile global supply chains, over dependent on China.
  
  And therefore, global manufacturers are bound to seek geographic diversification of resources and imports.
  
  That could mean a massive change in the way businesses are run.

Tanushree believes that the ongoing market crash could, in fact, be an inflection point for what she calls the irreversible Rebirth of India megatrends.

For bluechip stocks, she believes the time is ripe to begin buying some of the safest bluechips as there is safety in valuations and the market is offering them at deeper and deeper bargains.

The profits of bluechips (BSE 200 companies) are currently at a decade low as can be seen in the chart below.

A Rebound in Profits Overdue?

HYPERLINK ""

Tanushree is recommending her subscribers, to buy stocks selectively, a few at a time, by taking partial exposures to begin with.

She has already recommended 4 safe bluechips in the past month and there are several more in her watchlist. You can access them here: Here's How You Could Trade the Coronavirus Crisis Safely (requires subscription)

And if you are not a StockSelect subscriber, here's where you sign up.

Also, amid the gloomy economy and coronavirus fears, what's next for the Indian stock markets?

You have the answer to this!

Participate in Equitymaster's "State of the Markets" poll and make your opinion count.

60 seconds is all that this anonymous poll will take.

Participate here: Equitymaster's "State of the Markets" Poll

In news from the commodity space, crude oil prices rose by more than US$ 2, building on gains in the previous session after US President Donald Trump hinted, he may intervene in the price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Prices were also supported by US plans to buy up to 30 million barrels of crude oil for its emergency stockpile by the end of June and reports that regulators in its largest oil-producing state Texas might curtail output.

Note that, crude oil prices had crashed last week in what was the worst price dip since the 1991 Gulf War with Brent prices plunging to US$ 31 per barrel.

In a recent article, we have written the entire timeline showing economics of falling crude oil prices. You can check the same here: All About the 30% Crash in Crude Oil - 10 Points

In news from the banking sector, state-owned lender Bank of Baroda surpassed IndusInd Bank in market capitalisation ranking, after the sharp correction in the private sector lender's stock price.

In the last two weeks, IndusInd Bank's share price has tanked about 59%, after the private sector lender on March 7 announced a deferment of its plans to raise funds using additional tier-1 instruments.

In other news, shares of Yes Bank fell over 16% today amid reports that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given Yes Bank credit support of Rs 600 billion to ensure the lender is able to meet its obligations to depositors.

This is in line with RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das's assurance that the central bank would provide necessary liquidity support.

Meanwhile, a special court in Mumbai sent Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor to judicial custody till April 2.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had custody of Kapoor, arrested on money laundering charges, till March 20.

Note that Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani was questioned by the ED for about nine hours on Thursday in connection with possible links to the case against Kapoor and others.

Anil Ambani appeared before the ED to clarify on the group's exposure to Yes Bank and sought more time from the agency to provide further clarifications on some specific queries.

The probe agency has asked him to appear again on March 30.

On March 5, the RBI had imposed a moratorium on the private lender, restricting withdrawals to Rs 50,000 per depositor till April 3, in view of its poor financial health due to bad loans.

The government on March 14 notified a rescue plan for Yes Bank, led by State Bank of India (SBI) and joined by other lenders, as it looked to shield the banking sector from a widespread crisis.

The so-called 'reconstruction scheme', cleared by the Union Cabinet, took effect on March 13.

In one of the articles, we have written about the entire timeline of how YES Bank went from a stock market darling to a pariah. You can read the entire article here: How the YES Bank Collapse Unfolded - 10 Points.

Yes Bank share price ended the day down by 14.8%.

Moving on to news from the pharma sector, Biocon has received the establishment inspection report (EIR) from US health regulator for the post-approval and good manufacturing practice (GMP) inspection of its small molecules manufacturing facility in Bengaluru.

A company spokesperson said that the EIR has been closed with a voluntary action indicated (VAI) classification.

Meanwhile, shares of IPCA Labs surged 19% intraday today after reports said the company's Active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) for Chloroquine has been approved by the USFDA.

Reports state that, Chloroquine, which is being used to treat malaria, may help treat coronavirus.

Biocon share price and IPCA Labs share price ended the day up by 9.6% and 8.9%, respectively.

To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

For information on how to pick stocks that have the potential to deliver big returns, download our special report now!

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