Markets trade flat in late afternoon session

Benchmarks traded flat in late afternoon session. Traders were seen piling up positions in Telecom, Realty and Metal sectors while selling was witnessed in IT, TECK and Bankex sector stocks. Traders were cautious even after RBI data showed that Bank credit grew by 6 per cent to Rs 109.31 lakh crore and deposits increased by 9.76 per cent to Rs 154.51 lakh crore in the fortnight ended July 2, 2021. Traders also ignored Ministry of Finance has released Rs 75,000 crore to the States and Union Territories (UTs) with legislature under the back-to-back loan facility in lieu of Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, as concerns about resurging new COVID-19 cases and rising tensions between China and the U.S offset investor optimism over a combination of soothing comments on inflation from Fed Chair Jerome Powell and U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen. European markets were trading mostly in green as travel stocks rebounded after posting sharp losses this week, while a batch of upbeat earnings reports overshadowed concerns about rising cases of Delta variant in the continent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 53130.80, down by 28.05 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 52997.09 and 53290.81. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.37%, while Small cap index was up by 0.18%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.45%, Realty up by 1.49%, Metal up by 0.98%, Healthcare up by 0.96% and Energy was up by 0.66%, while IT down by 1.14%, TECK down by 0.79%, Bankex down by 0.51%, Power down by 0.25% and Utilities was down by 0.21% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.87%, Tata Steel up by 1.23%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.14%, Reliance Industries up by 0.95% and ITC up by 0.80%. On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 3.45%, Infosys down by 1.65%, ICICI Bank down by 1.24%, NTPC down by 1.20% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.19% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Finance has released Rs 75,000 crore to the States and Union Territories (UTs) with legislature under the back-to-back loan facility in lieu of Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation.

This release is in addition to normal GST compensation being released every 2 months out of actual cess collection. The release of Rs 75,000 crore being made now is funded from borrowings of GoI in 5-year securities, totalling Rs 68,500 crore and 2-year securities for Rs 6,500 crore issued in the current financial year, at a Weighted Average Yield of 5.60 and 4.25 percent per annum respectively.

As per the Ministry of Finance’s notification, it is expected that this release will help the States/UTs in planning their public expenditure among other things, for improving, health infrastructure and taking up infrastructure projects.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15922.05, down by 2.15 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 15882.60 and 15962.25. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Divi's Lab up by 3.25%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.96%, Tata Steel up by 1.23%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.12% and Reliance Industries up by 1.01%. On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 3.45%, Eicher Motors down by 1.93%, Infosys down by 1.70%, Adani Ports down by 1.42% and Shree Cement down by 1.27% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Nikkei 225 slipped 276.01 points or 0.98% to 28,003.08, Taiwan Weighted dropped 138.94 points or 0.77% to 17,895.25, Shanghai Composite declined 25.29 points or 0.71% to 3,539.30 and KOSPI was down by 9.31 points or 0.28% to 3,276.91. On the flip side, Hang Seng increased 8.41 points or 0.03% to 28,004.68, Straits Times advanced 9.58 points or 0.31% to 3,149.56 and Jakarta Composite was up by 25.76 points or 0.43% to 6,072.51.

European markets were trading mostly in green, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 27.58 points or 0.39% to 7,039.60, and Germany’s DAX was up by 39.85 points or 0.25% to 15,669.51. On the flip side, France’s CAC decreased 3.63 points or 0.06% to 6,489.73.