Post Session: Quick Review

The last trading day of the week ended on a higher note, with both Sensex and Nifty holding notable gains on close. After a positive start, markets remained in green during the entire trading session, as domestic sentiments got a boost with a private report stating that the Indian economy can grow by 7-7.8 per cent this fiscal on the back of better agriculture production and a revitalised rural economy amid global headwinds mainly due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

However, markets cut some gains in early afternoon deals, after a private survey said that a majority of urban Indians interviewed felt that their cost of living has gone up to some extent compared to 12 months ago due to high inflation levels. Adding some concerns, Governor Shaktikanta Das said that India's central bank is on course to bring down prices but the retail inflation rate is likely to remain above the top end of its mandated target band until December.

But, indices again added some gains in the last hour of the trade, after a report stated that India’s engineering exports stood at $9.79 billion in May 2022, recording a growth of 13.5 percent over the $8.62 billion reported in the same month a year ago, while the country saw its cumulative engineering exports growing by 16.84 percent at $19.39 billion ($16.6 billion) during April-May 2022 period. Traders took note of a new Nasscom report showing that the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and data utilisation strategy can add $500 billion to India's GDP by 2025.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher. Asian markets settled higher on Friday, even after overall consumer prices in Japan were up 2.5 percent on year in May. That was in line with expectations and unchanged from the previous month. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, overall inflation rose 0.2 percent - again in line with expectations and slowing from 0.4 percent in the previous month.

The BSE Sensex ended at 52727.98, up by 462.26 points or 0.88% after trading in a range of 52447.25 and 52909.87. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.53%, while Small cap index up by 1.60%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.53%, Auto up by 1.98%, Utilities up by 1.76%, Power up by 1.73% and Consumer Disc up by 1.68%, while IT down by 0.59% and TECK down by 0.23% were the only losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.28%, Indusind Bank up by 2.59%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.58%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.22% and ICICI Bank up by 2.02%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.03%, Infosys down by 0.77%, HCL Tech. down by 0.50%, TCS down by 0.49% and Wipro down by 0.16% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, calling upon the industry bodies like FICCI to work together for agricultural development, the Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar has said that the private sector should also join hands with the government to reduce the use of fertilizers and pesticides in farming. He added that the country is agriculture-oriented and farming has a big contribution in the country's economy.

Tomar expressed need to take steps to increase the returns in the field of agriculture and the post-harvest losses to the farmers should be minimal. He said that in this regard, the Central Government is working on several schemes. At the same time, the Government wants that farmers can use technology to shift to remunerative crops. Work is also being done to ensure uniformity and quality in the production of crops.

The Minister noted that that today horticulture should also be promoted so that the country can become self-reliant in all respects, adding that the country is in a very comfortable position in the production of food grains. Ten thousand new FPOs are also being created, which is benefiting the farmers a lot and will continue to do so. Crop diversification should also be encouraged.

The CNX Nifty ended at 15699.25, up by 142.60 points or 0.92% after trading in a range of 15619.45 and 15749.25. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.32%, Hero MotoCorp up by 3.21%, Indusind Bank up by 2.75%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.56% and Hindustan Unilever up by 2.28%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.00%, Infosys down by 0.78%, HCL Tech. down by 0.47%, TCS down by 0.47% and Coal India down by 0.34% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 73.14 points or 1.04% to 7,093.59, France’s CAC increased 74.57 points or 1.27% to 5,957.90 and Germany’s DAX was up by 91.86 points or 0.71% to 13,004.45.

Asian markets settled higher on Friday tracking solid gains from Wall Street overnight. Further, continuous decline in commodity prices also helped ease fears around inflation and a possible global recession. Investors will be looking ahead to US inflation data due next week. Chinese shares gained amid signs that crackdown on big tech is softening at the edges. Japanese shares ended higher, but the battered yen found some support after Japan's annual core consumer inflation topped the central bank's 2% target for a second straight month in May and that’s putting some more pressure on its ultra-easy policy stance.