Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended flat on Thursday. Markets made cautious start of the day, amid report that India recorded a massive spike of 46,307 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours out of which, over 31,000 were from Kerala. The country also witnessed 608 deaths, taking the death toll to 436,396. So far, India has recorded 32,557,677 corona cases in total. But soon, key indices turned positive, as with an aim to boost the start-up ecosystem in the country, the Ministry of Electronics and Information and Technology (MeitY) launched Start-up Accelerators of MeitY for pRoduct Innovation, Development and growth (SAMRIDH).

Markets remained higher in the first half of trading session, as sentiments remained positive with private report stating that the Indian economic growth likely to touch record high in the quarter through June, reflecting a very weak base last year and a rebound in consumer spending. The rebound came despite the drag from the deadly second wave of the coronavirus, which forced states across India to reimpose localised lockdowns and stop mobility completely from late April to early June.

Adding more comfort among traders, Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said that the government will soon launch a special incentive scheme to support 75 start-ups in areas of telemedicine, digital health and artificial intelligence. However, markets turned volatile in the second half of the trading session, as rating agency Moodys stated that the India's second Coronavirus (Covid-19) wave is increasing asset risks for banks in retail and the SME loan segment. 

On the global front, European markets were trading lower hurt by deteriorating German economic confidence as Covid cases continue to rise ahead of a key meeting of policymakers from the Federal Reserve and other central banks. Asian markets ended mixed note on Thursday, even after Japan's leading index increased in June, as initially estimated. The final data from the Cabinet Office showed that the leading index, which measures the future economic activity, rose to 104.1 in June from 102.6 in May, as estimated. The coincident index increased to 94.5 in June from 92.1 in the previous month. In the initial estimate, the reading was 94.0.

The BSE Sensex ended at 55949.10, up by 4.89 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 55854.07 and 56112.39. 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 0.30%, while Small cap index up by 0.31%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.14%, Power up by 0.91%, Oil & Gas up by 0.72%, Capital Goods up by 0.69% and FMCG up by 0.57%, while Telecom down by 3.45%, Metal down by 1.36%, Basic Materials down by 0.80%, PSU down by 0.80% and TECK down by 0.59% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 1.29%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.18%, HCL Tech. up by 1.13%, ICICI Bank up by 1.09% and Axis Bank up by 0.98%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 4.18%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.59%, Power Grid down by 1.34%, SBI down by 1.30% and Tata Steel down by 1.14% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, calling for a long-term stable and technology agnostic roadmap to allow localisation of technologies, Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) has said that it is critical for the survival and competitiveness of the industry amid dropping vehicle sales.

ACMA President Deepak Jain highlighted that factors such as high domestic taxation, increasing fuel costs, steep rise in commodity prices are adversely impacting affordability of vehicles, and in turn the viability of the component sector.

Besides, he said in FY2021, the industry witnessed the second consecutive year of contraction in vehicle sales in India as overall vehicle sales fell by 13.6 per cent. Given the volatility in the environment, Jain said it was for the industry to find answers on how to ''strive to survive, piece ourselves together to revive and explore the opportunities for growth''.

The CNX Nifty ended at 16636.90, up by 2.25 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 16603.40 and 16683.70. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Britannia up by 2.29%, Tata Consumer Products up by 2.07%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.64%, BPCL up by 1.31% and Reliance Industries up by 1.26%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 4.17%, JSW Steel down by 1.73%, Hindalco down by 1.53%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.53% and Power Grid down by 1.37% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 26.14 points or 0.37% to 7,123.98, France’s CAC decreased 12.59 points or 0.19% to 6,663.89 and Germany’s DAX was down by 38.88 points or 0.25% to 15,821.78.

Asian markets ended mixed note on Thursday ahead of US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at Fed's annual symposium at Jackson Hole for clues on the timing of a tapering of monetary stimulus. Seoul stocks declined as the country’s central bank Bank of Korea delivered its first pandemic-era rate hike to control inflation and household debt. Further, Japanese shares ended down following concerns of slowing economic growth in line with spread of highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant, while foreign investors sold Japanese shares worth a net 707.3 billion yen ($6.43 billion), the biggest since the week to May 14. However, some losses were capped by continued optimism about growth in the world’s largest economy after Dr. Anthony Fauci, top US infectious disease expert, said Covid-19 could be under control by early next year.