Domestic indices trade flat with positive bias after negative start

Indian equity benchmarks made negative start on Wednesday tracking lackluster global cues. But, soon markets wiped out losses and turned positive and are trading flat with positive bias in early deals. Buying in Realty, Bankex and Basic Materials aided the indices. Early cautiousness came in as India recorded a spike of 43,957 new infections, taking the total caseload to 30,662,896, according to Worldometer. Addition pessimism, goods and services tax collections fell below the Rs 1-trillion mark for the first time in nine month in June to a 10-month low, as economic activity got disrupted due to the second Covid-19 wave. Though, traders took some encouragement with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s statement that India is coming out of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic and it will witness a strong economic recovery and contribute to being an engine of growth for the global economy.

On the global front, most of the Asian markets were trading lower following the mixed cues overnight from Wall Street, on sinking oil prices, a strong U.S. dollar and expected profit taking. Traders also remain somewhat concerned about the outlook for monetary policy and await Wednesday's release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve's June meeting.

Back home, aviation stocks were in focus as credit rating agency ICRA in its report said domestic air passenger traffic was back to the growth trajectory in June amid the falling number of COVID-19 cases in the country with around three million passengers flying on local routes in the previous month as against around two million in May. In scrip specific development, Titan Company came under pressure after the company announced Q1FY22 business update. The company recorded revenue growth of around 117% (excluding bullion sales) in Q1FY22, with revenue contribution of approximately 50%, 10% and 40% coming from April, May and June months, respectively.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52923.79, up by 62.61 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 52751.76 and 53006.00. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.04%, while Small cap index was up by 0.18%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.14%, Bankex up by 0.20%, Basic Materials up by 0.20%, Capital Goods up by 0.12%, Telecom up by 0.11%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.85%, Oil & Gas down by 0.71%, Energy down by 0.56%, Power down by 0.46%, IT down by 0.41% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 1.78%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.41%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.21%, Asian Paints up by 0.98% and Power Grid Corp up by 0.68%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 1.55%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.14%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.09%, HCL Technologies down by 0.96% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.91% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said India is coming out of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic and it will witness a strong economic recovery and contribute to being an engine of growth for the global economy. He said India will be a more dynamic and friendlier business destination and it will be part of more reliable and resilient supply chains that the post-Covid world requires.

He also said that the Indo-Pacific will be an arena of particular activity and energy, noting that the evolving situation in the region reflected the reality of globalisation, the emergence of multipolarity and the benefits of rebalancing.

Besides, he also listed measures taken by the government to boost growth in areas of agriculture, infrastructure, manufacturing and tourism. He said 'And all of this is encapsulated by a framework that envisages an India of deeper strengths, greater capacities and more responsibility. And not least, in making it much easier to do business'.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15828.55, up by 10.30 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 15779.70 and 15850.95. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were UPL up by 2.02%, HDFC up by 1.53%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.50%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.09% and Asian Paints up by 1.07%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.02%, Titan Company down by 1.54%, Tata Motors down by 1.45%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.19% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.09% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 268.93 points or 0.94% to 28,374.28, Straits Times lost 43.92 points or 1.38% to 3,146.67, Hang Seng fell 216.19 points or 0.77% to 27,856.67, Taiwan Weighted plunged 27.92 points or 0.16% to 17,885.15, KOSPI declined 17.99 points or 0.54% to 3,287.22 and Jakarta Composite was down by 6.29 points or 0.10% to 6,040.82, while Shanghai Composite was up by 15.39 points or 0.44% to 3,545.65.