Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended with sharp losses on Monday. The start of the trading day was on a negative note, as Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant expressed concern over high food inflation due to higher prices of oilseeds and edible oils. Some cautiousness also came as India recorded 38,325 fresh Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total caseload to 31,143,595. The death count increased to 414,141 with 501 new fatalities.

Weak trade continued over the Dalal Street for the whole trading session, with key indices adding more losses in the second half of the trading session. Traders got cautious, amid reports that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have pulled out Rs 4,515 crore from the equities segment in the first half of July as they turn cautious towards the Indian market. Finally, markets ended the day on a lower note.

Traders overlooked Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian’s statement that the country’s economy will start witnessing a growth of 6.5 to 7 per cent from fiscal 2023 onwards, helped by various reforms undertaken by the government so far and also as Covid-19 vaccination drive progresses. Meanwhile, RBI data showed that the country's foreign exchange reserves increased by $1.883 billion to touch a record high of $611.895 billion in the week ended July 9.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower as markets digested the latest OPEC + announcement regarding oil production, and continued to brood on inflation and rising Covid-19 cases. Asian markets ended lower on Monday, even after the total value of non-oil domestic exports in Singapore was up a seasonally adjusted 6.0 percent on month in June. The Department of Statistics said that exceeded expectations for an increase of 2.1 percent following the downwardly revised 0.2 percent decline in May (originally -0.1 percent).

The BSE Sensex ended at 52553.40, down by 586.66 points or 1.10% after trading in a range of 52405.89 and 52821.17. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.58%, while Small cap index down by 0.31%. (Provisional)

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.23%, Healthcare up by 0.17% and Utilities up by 0.05%, while Bankex down by 1.76%, Metal down by 1.43%, Auto down by 1.05%, Consumer Durables down by 0.84% and Telecom down by 0.80% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 1.89%, Nestle up by 0.59%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.27% and Sun Pharma up by 0.05%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 3.34%, Indusind Bank down by 2.78%, HDFC down by 2.15%, Axis Bank down by 2.07% and Maruti Suzuki down by 1.89% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs & Food & Public Distribution, and Textiles Piyush Goyal has expressed confidence that India will play a leadership role in the area of renewable energy in the years to come.

Minister of Commerce & Industry further said 'battery technologies are going to be very important for our sustainability mission & for renewable energy to progress more, and we are investing heavily on batteries now.'

Talking about the progress made by the country in renewable energy, Goyal said that several decades ago, India was amongst the initial countries to promote hydro generation of power- 1st small hydro power plant started functioning in Darjeeling way back in 1897.

The CNX Nifty ended at 15752.40, down by 171.00 points or 1.07% after trading in a range of 15707.50 and 15836.90. There were 8 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 1.93%, BPCL up by 1.32%, Divi's Lab up by 1.05%, Nestle up by 0.56% and Tata Consumer Products up by 0.33%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 3.37%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 2.77%, Indusind Bank down by 2.72%, HDFC down by 2.18% and Hindalco down by 2.11% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 89.73 points or 1.28% to 6,918.36, France’s CAC decreased 84.13 points or 1.3% to 6,375.95 and Germany’s DAX was down by 195.12 points or 1.26% to 15,345.19.

Asian markets ended lower on Monday, with concerns over worsening corona-virus situation and inflationary pressure. Japanese shares ended lower due to worries over the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, while anxiety ahead of June's inflation data also impacted sentiment. Meanwhile, Chinese shares ended with a flat note. Chinese central bank PBOC will meet this week to fix its one- and five-year loan prime rate (LPR), with the decision is due on Tuesday, with markets expecting status quo to continue.