Post Session: Quick Review

Sensex, Nifty ended at record closing highs on Tuesday. The start of the day was on positive note, amid report that India reported the lowest daily spike in infections since 31 March with 62,597 new cases in the last 24 hours. With this, the country's total coronavirus caseload has reached 29,570,035. Some support also came in with report that after making a late entry, the south-west monsoon has progressed steadily and, in the first fortnight, covered almost two-thirds of the country, which is almost 15 days ahead of schedule. Market participants largely overlooked the government report that India's retail inflation shot up to six-month high of 6.3 per cent in May, after easing to a three-month low of 4.23 per cent in April. Inflation, based on Consumer Price Index (CPI), has breached the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) target range for the first time after five months.

Markets remained higher during the whole trading session, taking support with SBI Research’s report that if there is no third wave of Covid-19 pandemic, the fiscal position of the Centre and the states will be much better than budgeted for FY22 and the states may garner Rs 60,000 crore more in tax collections at Rs 8.27 lakh crore this fiscal year than they have budgeted. Some optimism also came in with Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) stating that the order book position of exporters are healthy and the growth story will continue to be a mixed one as outbound shipments of both value added goods and raw material will contribute to push the overall exports of the country. It said India has started on a good note in 2021 and exports figures so far have been encouraging.

Finally, key indices ended in green with notable gains. Traders remained positive, amid a private report stating that calibrated reopening of the economy by states as the number of fresh COVID-19 cases subside increased mobility and aided in a fast-paced increase in an index of business resumption last week. The Nomura India Business Resumption Index rebounded to 76 for the week ended June 13, up from the preceding week's 67.9, a note from the brokerage said. Besides, the finance ministry has asked all ministries and departments to assess the government guarantee requirement for the current fiscal and submit a prioritised list.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher as investors await the start of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy meeting. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Tuesday, after Japan's industrial production increased more than estimated in April. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said that industrial production rose a seasonally adjusted 2.9 percent month-on-month in April. In the initial estimate, output increased 2.5 percent. Shipment grew 3.1 percent monthly in April. According to the initial estimate, shipment rose 2.6 percent.

The BSE Sensex ended at 52773.05, up by 221.52 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 52671.29 and 52869.51. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.60%, while Small cap index was up by 0.44%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.55%, Consumer Disc up by 0.99%, Bankex up by 0.91%, FMCG up by 0.79% and Industrials up by 0.44%, while Healthcare down by 0.71%, Power down by 0.53%, Metal down by 0.45%, Utilities down by 0.44% and PSU down by 0.10% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 3.18%, Axis Bank up by 1.97%, ICICI Bank up by 1.57%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.11% and Indusind Bank up by 0.91%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.05%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 0.82%, Titan Co down by 0.68%, Sun Pharma down by 0.60% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.54% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, Retailers Association of India (RAI) in its latest survey report has showed that retail sales in India slipped 79 per cent in May compared to pre-COVID sales in the same month of 2019, as businesses across states were closed due to the second wave of the pandemic.

As per the report, the decline in sales was the steepest in West and North India, which witnessed an 83 per cent dip last month as compared to May 2019, while eastern region saw a decline of 75 per cent, while South was relatively better with degrowth of 73 per cent as compared to the same month in 2019.

Retailers Association of India further noted that on a sequential basis, the decline in May was much steeper compared to the previous month, when overall sales across India were down 49 per cent as compared to April 2019.

The CNX Nifty ended at 15869.25, up by 57.40 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 15842.40 and 15901.60. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 3.13%, Axis Bank up by 1.99%, ICICI Bank up by 1.60%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.59% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.16%. On the flip side, Divi's Lab down by 1.71%, Coal India down by 1.38%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.07%, Hindalco down by 1.00% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 0.92% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 16.67 points or 0.23% to 7,163.35, France’s CAC increased 27.48 points or 0.42% to 6,643.83 and Germany’s DAX was up by 93.83 points or 0.6% to 15,767.47.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Tuesday tracking a strong finish on the Nasdaq overnight, even as investors eyeing this week's Federal Reserve meeting with fear of rising interest rates. Japanese shares ended up after the Bank of Japan said it will consider extending the September deadline for its pandemic-relief programs to support a fragile economic recovery. However, Chinese shares declined as tensions between Beijing and the West soured investor sentiment after Group of Seven leaders called for Hong Kong to keep a high degree of autonomy.