Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended flat with negative bias on Friday. The start of the day was in green, as traders took encouragement with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) report that the tapering of the second wave, coupled with an aggressive vaccination push, has brightened near-term prospects for the Indian economy, and the Indian economy may have grown 22.1 per cent in the April-June quarter. Adding optimism, the data released by the Commerce Ministry showed that the country's exports rose by 48.34 per cent to $32.5 billion on account of healthy growth in shipments of petroleum products, gems and jewellery, and chemicals, leather and marine goods.

But soon, markets turned volatile and finally ended in red, as India recorded a spike of 39,072 fresh Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total caseload to 31,025,875, according to Worldometer. The death count increased to 412,563 with 544 new fatalities, the data showed. Traders overlooked reports that the Finance Ministry 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. The release is in addition to normal GST compensation being released every 2 months out of actual cess collection.

On the global front, 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. Asian markets ended mixed on Friday, after the Bank of Japan decided to maintain its monetary stimulus unchanged and unveiled a preliminary outline for the new programme to support efforts on climate change. The bank also lowered its near-term growth outlook citing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and raised its fiscal 2021 inflation forecast. The board, governed by Haruhiko Kuroda, on Friday, voted 8-1, to hold the interest rate at -0.1 percent on current accounts that financial institutions maintain at the central bank.

The BSE Sensex ended at 53140.06, down by 18.79 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 52997.09 and 53290.81. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.45%, while Small cap index was up by 0.38%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.47%, Realty up by 1.27%, Metal up by 1.20%, Healthcare up by 1.12% and Energy up by 1.00%, while IT down by 0.99%, TECK down by 0.73% and Bankex down by 0.47% were the only losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.94%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.95%, Tata Steel up by 1.77%, Power Grid up by 1.50% and Reliance Industries up by 1.37%. On the flip side, HCL Tech. down by 3.38%, Infosys down by 1.60%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.56%, ICICI Bank down by 1.06% and NTPC down by 1.04% were the top losers. (Provisional)

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 ended at 15923.40, down by 0.80 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 15882.60 and 15962.25. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Divi's Lab up by 3.26%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.99%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.02%, Tata Steel up by 1.79% and Power Grid up by 1.50%. On the flip side, HCL Tech. down by 3.34%, Eicher Motors down by 1.88%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.65%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.64% and Infosys down by 1.60% were the top losers. (Provisional)

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.

Asian markets ended mixed on Friday as concerns about continued resurgence of coronavirus infections dented investor sentiment. Chinese shares ended lower amid rising tensions between China and the US. Reports showing that the US Biden administration is set to issue an advisory cautioning its companies about the risks of doing business in Hong Kong as China continues to clamp down on political and economic freedoms in the territory. Japanese shares declined as the Bank of Japan (BoJ) downgraded its real GDP forecast for 2021 to 3.8% growth against 4% growth forecast made in April, but maintained its monetary stimulus unchanged.