Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended flat on Monday. The start of the day was on a strong note, as Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar said the economy will register a double-digit growth in the current fiscal and the disinvestment climate also looks better, with India's story remaining very strong. He also asserted that the country is prepared in a far better manner in case there is a Covid wave as states have also their own lessons from the previous two waves. Adding more optimism, the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) poll of 119 top corporates showed that recovery from the second wave of the pandemic in April-May is expected to be swifter as compared to the first wave in 2020.

Markets remained higher for the most part of the trading session, as traders were positive, after the government has identified a host of customs exemptions for review and has invited suggestions from trade and industry bodies on the same. Importers, exporters, domestic industry, and trade associations are invited to give views on the subject for consideration by the government by August 10 on the 'MyGov.in' portal. Besides, capital markets regulator Sebi came out with a new framework with regard to valuation of securities, having multiple put options, held by mutual funds.

But, in the second half of the trading session, key indices cut gains and turned volatile to end the trading day on a flat note. Domestic sentiments got impacted, amid reports that India's Covid caseload is on a downhill, but concerns over the Delta and Delta plus variants persist across the globe. Meanwhile, India has recorded 37,676 fresh cases taking the total caseload to 30,873,907, according to Worldometer.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower, as investors sold economically sensitive sectors on worries that the spread of new coronavirus variants was stalling a global economic recovery. Asian markets settled mostly higher on Monday, after the total value of core machine orders in Japan climbed a seasonally adjusted 7.8 percent on month in May, the Cabinet Office said on Monday - standing at 865.7 billion yen. That exceeded expectations for an increase of 2.6 percent following the 0.6 percent increase in April. On a yearly basis, core machine orders jumped 12.2 percent - again beating forecasts for 6.3 percent after rising 6.5 percent in the previous month.

The BSE Sensex ended at 52372.69, down by 13.50 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 52208.96 and 52700.51. There were 16 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.40%, while Small cap index up by 0.75%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 3.56%, Basic Materials up by 0.84%, Consumer Disc up by 0.52%, Bankex up by 0.51% and Consumer Durables up by 0.27%, while Telecom down by 0.73%, TECK down by 0.55%, IT down by 0.48%, Power down by 0.44% and Oil & Gas down by 0.30% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 2.84%, ICICI Bank up by 1.20%, SBI up by 0.92%, Axis Bank up by 0.78% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.73%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.18%, Tata Steel down by 1.00%, HDFC Bank down by 0.97%, Infosys down by 0.95% and HDFC down by 0.74% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, suggesting measures to speed up the implementation, Piyush Goyal has taken review the textile sector schemes and their progress. The Minister took review of the various schemes/activities implemented/undertaken by the Office of the Textile Commissioner, Textiles Committee, Cotton Corporation of India, Export Promotion Councils and Textile Research Organizations.

Further, the Minister emphasized the need for close liasioning and co-ordination between the Government agencies and the local elected representatives for making a congenial atmosphere in implementing the various Government initiatives.

The Minister opined that the applications received under subsidy-oriented schemes should be processed in a transparent manner using automation keeping in view the broad objective of each scheme and necessary mechanism should be devised so that personal contact of industry and department can be eliminated and standardized process free discretion. Special dispensation for MSME to be done for recorded reasons.

The CNX Nifty ended at 15692.60, up by 2.80 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 15644.75 and 15789.20. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Ultratech Cement up by 2.81%, Grasim Industries up by 2.40%, Shree Cement up by 1.94%, JSW Steel up by 1.89% and SBI Life Insurance up by 1.36%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.43%, BPCL down by 1.29%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.23%, HDFC Bank down by 1.00% and Tata Steel down by 1.00% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 43.75 points or 0.61% to 7,078.13, France’s CAC decreased 29.41 points or 0.45% to 6,500.01 and Germany’s DAX was down by 31.94 points or 0.2% to 15,655.99.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Monday, despite lingering worries about the spread of the highly transmissible Delta plus variant of the coronavirus. Japanese shares ended higher, led by cyclical stocks on renewed economic optimism after data showed core machinery orders in Japan climbed a seasonally adjusted 7.8 percent month on month in May against expectations for an increase of 2.6 percent. Chinese shares gained after the country's central bank reduced the amount of money commercial lenders must set aside as reserves in an effort to sustain a recovery from the pandemic.