Key equities traded with tiny gains amid high volatility in mid afternoon trade. At 14:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 23.42 points or 0.06% at 37,900.16. The Nifty 50 index rose 24.55 points or 0.22% at 11,202.9.
The broader market traded higher. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.09% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.64%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1535 shares rose and 1160 shares fell. A total of 157 shares were unchanged.
COVID-19 Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 21,674,130 with 7,75,275 deaths. India reported 6,76,900 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 50,921 deaths while 19,19,842 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Economy:
India's exports contracted for the fifth straight month in July, falling by 10.21% to $26.33 billion. In rupee terms, exports stood at Rs 1,77,305.79 crore in July 2020, down 2.14%, as per the data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on Friday. The imports too contracted by 28.40% to $28.47 billion in July from $39.76 billion in the same month last year. In terms of rupee, imports were down 21.96 per cent YoY to Rs Rs 2,13,499.56 crore.
The trade deficit for July was $4.83 billion as against a surplus of $790 million in June and a deficit of $13.43 billion in the year ago period.
Numbers to Track:
The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 5.973% compared with previous closing of 5.965% in the previous trading session.
In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee edged higher to 74.88 compared with its previous closing 74.90.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for October 2020 settlement rose 12 cents to $44.92 a barrel. The contract fell 0.36 to end at $44.8 in the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 5 October 2020 settlement was up 0.56% to Rs 52,520.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Britannia Industries gained 1.93% after the FMCG company declared an interim dividend of Rs 83 per share. The company has set 27 August 2020 as a record date for dividend.
PI Industries fell 0.69%. The agri-sciences company announced that its chief financial officer Subhash Anand has decided to step down due to personal reasons and has requested for early relieving. PI Industries said the management has accepted his request and accordingly he shall be relieved from his current responsibilities with effect from closing hours of 18 August 2020.
VRL Logistics was up 1.27%. On a standalone basis, the company reported net loss of Rs 62.71 crore in Q1 June 2020 as against net profit of Rs 27.45 crore in Q1 June 2019. Standalone net sales slumped 70.3% to Rs 160.09 crore in Q1 June 2020 compared with Rs 539.64 crore in Q1 June 2019. Pre-tax loss stood at Rs 83.81 crore in Q1 June 2020 as against pre-tax profit of Rs 42.42 crore incurred in Q1 June 2019. Due to COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdown across the country, the VRL Logistics' operations and financial results for the quarter have been impacted. The company has resumed operations partially in a phased manner as per Government directives.
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)