Indian stocks surge on signs that pandemic may be waning

Bloomberg

Indian stocks soared as trading resumed after a holiday, tracking gains in equities across Asia, on optimism that the deadly coronavirus pandemic may be waning in some key global hot spots.
The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex rose 7% as of 1:21 pm in Mumbai, while the NSE Nifty 50 Index advanced a similar amount. Markets are only open three days this week as they’re also closed for a holiday on
Friday.
“Market participants are now focusing on the peak of the pandemic even as economic conditions have worsened,” said Chokkalingam G, head of investment advisory at Equinomics Research & Advisory Pvt. in Mumbai. “A three-week lockdown means no business activity for a quarter of a three-month period, which will have a substantial impact on earnings.”
Trading volumes have fallen and volatility has seen a surge with most dealers working from home with limited flexibility. A total of 4,778 people have been infected by the virus with 136 deaths. The lock-down through April 14 was imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to try prevent transmission of the virus in the world’s second most populous country.
Sovereign bonds headed lower as states ramped up debt supply during the week. The benchmark 10-year was yield was up 9 basis points to 6.39%. The rupee was 0.5% higher against the dollar.
Bond and currency markets on Tuesday begin reduced trading hours from between 10 am-2 pm in Mumbai until April 17 due to market volatility, the Reserve Bank of India said last week.

Lockdown Stress
The disruption has already beginning to show signs of pain. Lender Bajaj Finance Ltd., said in an analyst call on Monday that the company has lost 47.5 billion rupees ($625 million)
in assets under management
in the last 10 days, BloombergQuint said in a report. The firm also said that small and medium -sized businesses were under severe strain and asked the central bank to consider further economic relief measures, according to the report.
Companies will start announcing their results for the January-March quarter this month. Kotak Institutional Equities expects a 14% decline in profits for the companies under its coverage with a double-digit drop in net income for sectors like autos and construction material as economic activities suffered in March.