Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended near their intraday high points on Thursday. After a cautious start, markets remained higher for the most part of the trading session, supported with former Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya’s statement that Indian economy, which has grown fairly rapidly in the last 17 years, will grow at 7-8 per cent in the next couple of decades. Adding more optimism, Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) remained net buyers for the third day straight on Dalal Street on Wednesday. FIIs pumped in Rs 1,780 crore into domestic stocks. Some support also came as the labor ministry indicated that retirement fund body EPFO added 16.82 lakh, new subscribers, in May 2022, nearly 83 percent more than 9.2 lakh enrolled in the year-ago month.

However, in the second half of the trading session, markets cut their gains, amid a private report stating that India’s economic activity showed early signs of cooling off in June as acute price pressures, rising interest rates, and a falling rupee dampened sentiment after a strong showing the previous month. But, soon, markets bounced back to end the trading session on a higher note. Traders got some relief, as Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran said that the depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar has been lower than other major global currencies such as the Euro, the British pound and the Japanese yen. He attributed depreciation in rupee and other currencies against the US dollar to the aggressive monetary tightening by the US Federal Reserve.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower weighed by Italian political uncertainty ahead of a key European Central Bank meeting. Asian markets ended mixed, after the Bank of Japan maintained its negative interest rates and yield targets, as widely expected, and forecast inflation to breach the 2 percent target before falling back in the next fiscal year. The policy board, governed by Haruhiko Kuroda, on Thursday, voted 8-1, to maintain a negative interest rate of -0.1 percent on current accounts that financial institutions maintain at the central bank.

Back home, metal industry stocks remained in limelight as Union Minister Faggan Singh Kulaste said the exports of finished steel from India jumped over 25 per cent to 13.49 million tonne (MT) in 2021-22. During the preceding 2020-21 fiscal, the exports stood at 10.78 MT. Sugar stocks also remained in focus with a private report that India may allow sugar mills to export more than previously permitted to help them prevent contract defaults.

The BSE Sensex ended at 55681.95, up by 284.42 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 55270.75 and 55738.49. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.24%, while Small cap index up by 0.90%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.16%, Capital Goods up by 2.08%, Industrials up by 1.45%, Oil & Gas up by 1.32% and Power up by 1.24%, while Healthcare down by 0.12% was the only losing index on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 7.88%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.27%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.52%, Asian Paints up by 1.91% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.58%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.89%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.32%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.05%, Reliance Industries down by 0.56% and HDFC Bank down by 0.34% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the Retirement fund body, Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in its latest ‘Provisional Estimate of Net Payroll’ data report has showed that India created 1681661 new jobs in the month of May 2022.

As per the report, the maximum jobs were created in the age bracket of 22-25 and in this bracket the top sectors which have created more fresh jobs include Expert Services; Trading-Commercial Establishments; Establishment Engaged in Manufacture, Marketing Servicing; Engineers- Engineering Contractors; Building & Construction Industry; Financing Establishment and Hospitals. In the similar age bracket, Maharashtra was the first among the States to create maximum payroll, followed by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Haryana and Delhi.

According to the data report, 9246 new jobs were created in less than 18 age group category, while 335228 jobs in 18-21 age group category. Further, 22-25 age, 26-28 age, 29-35 age and more than 35 age group category witnessed 432913, 244026, 349260 and 310988 new payrolls, respectively in May.

The CNX Nifty ended at 16605.25, up by 84.40 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 16483.90 and 16626.95. There were 42 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 7.82%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.17%, Tata Consumer Products up by 2.93%, UPL up by 2.73% and Bajaj Finserv up by 2.38%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.97%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.49%, SBI Life Insurance down by 1.48%, Cipla down by 1.32% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.22% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 41.50 points or 0.57% to 7,222.81, France’s CAC decreased 27.27 points or 0.44% to 6,157.39 and Germany’s DAX was down by 116.92 points or 0.88% to 13,165.06.

Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday on persisting concerns about the Chinese economy, while softening crude oil prices helped ease inflation worries. Markets are eagerly awaiting the ECB meeting where an interest rate hike is expected for the first time in more than a decade. Chinese and Hong Kong markets were declined with concerns over strict Covid lockdowns and waning confidence in China's property market. Japanese shares gained after the central bank BOJ kept interest rates on hold.