Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended volatile day in green on Tuesday. After a negative start, markets remained volatile for the most part of the trading session, as traders were worried, amid a private report stating that consumer confidence on financial preparedness for the future has dropped in the last two years with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, even as the financial awareness and need for insurance has increased. Besides, the microfinance industry's gross loan portfolio (GLP) marginally declined by around 4 per cent to Rs 2,14,528 crore as of June 30 this year, against Rs 2,24,205 crore as of June 20, 2020, according to a report by Sa-Dhan. Sa-Dhan is an RBI recognised self-regulatory organisation for microfinance institutions.

Domestic sentiments got hurt as Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Director General Ajay Sahai stated that bilateral trade between Afghanistan and India will get impacted significantly in these uncertain times. He said domestic exporters should follow caution looking into the political development in Afghanistan, particularly with regard to payments, for which adequate credit insurance may be availed by them. Some concern also came as foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold Rs 7,000 crore worth of equities in the secondary markets in the June quarter. The holding of these investors (including ADR and GDR) in the BSE-200 index declined to 23.9 per cent from 24.4 per cent in March 2021.

However, in the last hour of the trade, key indices added gains to end higher, as sentiments got a boost with report that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that she expects inflation to remain in the prescribed range during the current fiscal. The RBI has been mandated to keep inflation at 4 per cent, with tolerance level of 2 per cent on either side. Adding more optimism, a report stated that investments by private equity and venture capital funds doubled to a record high of $9.5 billion in July mainly driven by higher investor interest in the e-commerce sector. Private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) investments stood at $4.1 billion in the year-ago period.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower as a spike in COVID-19 cases in Asia and elsewhere raised fears of a slowdown in global economic growth. Asian markets settled mostly down on Tuesday, even after Japan's tertiary activity rose for the first time in three months in June. The data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed that the tertiary activity index rose 2.3 percent month-on-month in June, after a 2.9 percent decrease in May. Among the individual components, living and amusement-related services, retail trade, transport and postal activities, medical, health care and welfare, wholesale trade, electricity, gas, heat supply and water, business-related services, goods rental and leasing, information and communications increased in June.

The BSE Sensex ended at 55792.27, up by 209.69 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 55386.49 and 55854.88. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.71%, while Small cap index up by 0.30%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.33%, TECK up by 1.92%, Healthcare up by 1.37%, FMCG up by 1.18% and Consumer Durables up by 0.63%, while Metal down by 2.63%, Telecom down by 1.06%, Basic Materials down by 1.02%, PSU down by 0.96% and Realty down by 0.81% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 3.21%, TCS up by 2.32%, Nestle up by 2.30%, Titan Co up by 2.18% and Infosys up by 2.15%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.78%, NTPC down by 1.26%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.18%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.10% and Tata Steel down by 1.03% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal has said that Indian startup ecosystem has the potential & promise to make India the Innovation & Invention hub of the world.

Besides, Goyal asked DPIIT to now act as a ‘Facilitator’ with Open doors, Open Arms & Open Mind. He said that Government is committed to cut red tape, improve Ease of Doing Business  provide financial assistance through Startup seed  fund, supporting incubators, enhancing skills and this holistic approach has intended to resolve the issues relating to capital mobilization, support innovation with tinkering labs, & meet the capacity &  capability requirements of startups.

He further said “today, our vision expands beyond the traditional models of growth, our aim is to create a New India i.e. an Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Startups are the key to building an Aatmanirbhar Bharat with Courage, Collaboration & Commitment and to achieve such an ambitious target we need a participative approach from all stakeholders.” He also said that industry must help create Startup Superstars by identifying innovators & investing in talent.

The CNX Nifty ended at 16614.60, up by 51.55 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 16495.40 and 16628.55. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Consumer Products up by 3.82%, Wipro up by 3.40%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.35%, Nestle up by 2.39% and Hindustan Unilever up by 2.37%. On the flip side, JSW Steel down by 2.28%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 2.02%, Tata Motors down by 1.98%, Coal India down by 1.94% and Indusind Bank down by 1.84% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 7.40 points or 0.1% to 7,146.58, France’s CAC decreased 35.85 points or 0.52% to 6,802.92 and Germany’s DAX was down by 64.49 points or 0.4% to 15,861.24.

Asian markets settled mostly down on Tuesday tracking mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, while geopolitical tensions in Afghanistan and worries over fast-spreading Delta corona-virus variant too weighed sentiments. Investors are now awaiting minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting, due to be published on Wednesday, for cues on the economic and interest-rate outlook. Chinese shares ended lower due to tensions between China and the United States after the US Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler issued his most direct warning yet about the risks of investing in Chinese companies. Meanwhile, Chinese market regulator issued draft rules aimed at stopping unfair competition on the internet, marking the latest stage of Beijing’s crackdown on the country’s technology sector.