Benchmark indices rose more than 1.50%; Sensex adds 848 points & Nifty ends at 14,923

Domestic equity benchmarks ended with strong gains on Monday, May 17, 2021, led by a rally in banks shares. The sharp drop in COVID-19 also lifted the sentiments of the investors.

The S&P BSE Sensex advanced 848.18 points or 1.74 per to 49,580.73. The Nifty 50 index added 245.35 points or 1.67 per cent to 14,923.15. The Nifty Bank index surged 1,289.70 points or 4.01 per cent to close at 33,459.25.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap closed 1.63 per cent higher and SmallCap index ended 1.61 per cent higher.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 2106 shares rose and 1036 shares fell. On the NSE, 39 stocks advanced and 11 stocks declined on the Nifty 50 index. The top five gainers on Nifty were IndusInd Bank (up 7.54 per cent), SBI (up 6.66 per cent), ICICI Bank (up 4.45 per cent), HDFC Bank (up 3.76 per cent), Axis Bank (up 3.45 per cent). The top five losers were Cipla (down 2..38 per cent), Bharti Airtel (down 2.25 per cent), Larsen & Turbo (down 1.91 per cent), SBI Life (down 1.40 per cent) and Nestle India (down 0.95 per cent).

COVID-19 update

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide were at 16,30,84,128 with 33,79,501 deaths. India reported 35,16,997 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 2,74,390 deaths while 2,11,74,076 patients have been discharged, data showed. India recorded 2.81 lakh fresh cases of Coronavirus in the last 24 hours taking the total tally of COVID-19 infections to 2,49,65,463, data showed.

On Monday, the daily COVID-19 cases reported in the country fell below the 3-lakh mark for the first time since April 2021.

April WPI Inflation

India's April Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation was at 10.49 per cent compared with 7.39 per cent in March 2021. The annual rate of inflation in April 2021 is high primarily because of rising prices of crude petroleum, mineral oils viz petrol, diesel, etc, and manufactured products as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.

Special GST Refund Disposal Drive

Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has launched a Special GST Refund Disposal Drive from May 15 to 31, 2021, for processing and disposal of all pending GST refund claims on priority.

In a statement, CBIC said that it is expected that all Central Tax formations will take up all the pending GST refund claims for processing and endeavour to dispose of them much earlier than the statutory time limits, preferably before a period of 30 days from the date of receipt of the refund application.

It is expected that during this special drive, all GST refund claims, pending as of May 14, 2021, shall be disposed of by May 31, 2021.

India's export performance

India's export performance continues to be impressive in April this year with merchandise exports accelerating by an impressive 195.72 per cent over April 2020 levels and 17.62 per cent over the April 2019 levels. Merchandise exports, excluding POL and Gems and Jewellery, have increased by 160.24 per cent in April this year over the same period of 2020-21 and by 20.47 per cent over the same period of 2019-20.

The Economic recovery is also visible in the rising import growth of 167.05 per cent during the month of April this year over the same period of 2020-21 and 7.87 per cent in April this month over the same period of 2019-20.

Cyclonic storm Tauktae

Severe cyclonic storm Tauktae intensified overnight into a "very severe cyclonic storm" over the east-central Arabian Sea, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said. Total 100 rescue teams have been deployed for six states - Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa.