Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended at record closing highs on Monday. The start of the day was on a positive note, as sentiment got boost after foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country rose by more than twofold to $17.57 billion during April-June this fiscal on account of measures such as policy reforms and ease of doing business. Some support also came as foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pumped in a net of just Rs 986 crore in Indian equities during August. 

Bulls held a tight grip over the Dalal Street during trading session. Traders remained positive, as Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar has said a strong economic growth rebound is expected on the back of rapid vaccinations, a recovering monsoon boosting agricultural output, thrust on infrastructure investments by the government, and growth in export, which have performed remarkably during April June registering a growth of 18 per cent over the same period in the pre-pandemic year of 2019-20.

In the last hours of the day, indices added more gains, as some relief came after India Ratings and Research in its latest report stated that it expects the aggregate fiscal deficit of states in the country to moderate to 4.1 per cent of GDP in the current financial year from its earlier expectation of 4.3 per cent. In line with the slight moderation in its forecast for fiscal deficit in FY22, the agency expects the aggregate debt/GDP ratio to come in lower at 32.4 per cent in FY22 as against the previous estimate of 34 per cent.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher as hopes that continued central bank support would sustain an economic recovery offset woes over rising Delta COVID-19 variant cases. Asian markets settled higher on Monday, after Japan's retail sales grew for the fifth straight month in July. The data published by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed that retail sales grew 2.4 percent year-on-year in July, faster than the 0.1 percent increase seen in June. On a monthly basis, retail sales were up 1.1 percent in July.

The BSE Sensex ended at 56889.76, up by 765.04 points or 1.36% after trading in a range of 56309.86 and 56958.27. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.72%, while Small cap index up by 1.55%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 3.53%, Metal up by 2.62%, Power up by 2.31%, Basic Materials up by 2.16% and Utilities up by 2.14%, while IT down by 0.51% and TECK down by 0.04% were the only losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 4.44%, Axis Bank up by 4.15%, Tata Steel up by 4.00%, Titan Co up by 3.46% and Bajaj Finance up by 2.91%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.88%, Nestle down by 0.95%, Infosys down by 0.62% and TCS down by 0.50% were the only losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, in order to capture inflation expectations and consumer confidence, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has launched the next round of households surveys, which provide useful inputs for its monetary policy. The central bank has been regularly conducting these surveys.

Announcing the launch of the September 2021 round of Inflation Expectations Survey of Households (IESH), the RBI said the survey aims at capturing subjective assessments on price movements and inflation, of about 6,000 households, based on their individual consumption baskets, across 18 cities.

The September 2021 round of the Consumer Confidence Survey (CCS) seeks qualitative responses from households regarding their sentiments on the general economic situation, employment scenario, price level, and households' income and spending.

The CNX Nifty ended at 16931.05, up by 225.85 points or 1.35% after trading in a range of 16764.85 and 16951.50. There were 43 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 4.25%, Axis Bank up by 4.21%, Tata Steel up by 4.08%, Divi's Lab up by 3.94% and Coal India up by 3.64%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.81%, Nestle down by 1.08%, Eicher Motors down by 0.86%, Infosys down by 0.63% and TCS down by 0.51% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 23.03 points or 0.32% to 7,148.01, France’s CAC increased 6.86 points or 0.10% to 6690.28 and Germany’s DAX was up by 36.18 points or 0.23% to 15856.71.

Asian markets settled higher on Monday, tracking Friday's bounce on Wall Street after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole signalled that the central bank is likely to begin tapering some of its easy-money policies before the end of the year though Fed will continue to hold interest rates at current level. Chinese shares ended marginally higher after the country's securities regulator pledged to crack down on mismanaged private funds and weed out fake ones, because the government becomes more assertive in dealing with an industry worth 60 trillion yuan.