Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended higher on Friday’s trading session. Key indices made a cautious start of the trading day, as India recorded 43,360 infections and 796 fatalities in the last 24 hours. In just over five weeks, from May 23 to July 1, the country reported 100,000 deaths from Covid even as the second wave waned. Some cautiousness also came in as Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das said the second wave of the pandemic took a grievous toll on India, but the dented economic activity has started recovering from late-May.

Markets remained volatile for the most part of the trading session, as sentiments remained downbeat as the Financial Stability Report (FSR) released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that the gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) ratio of banks may increase to 9.8 percent by March 2022 from 7.48 percent in March 2021 under a baseline scenario. Besides, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) stood as net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,245.29 crore on Thursday, as per provisional exchange data.

In the last hours of trade, indices managed to trade in green, taking support with the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that a special session of the GST Council will be held soon to discuss all compensation-related issues. She also said that the flow of COVID-19 vaccination across the country will be well managed and all states will be taken care of. Some support came in as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said Southwest Monsoon over the country is likely to be normal in July.

On the global front, European markets were trading mostly in green on a boost from semiconductor makers, while investors awaited a closely watched monthly jobs report from the United States later in the day. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Friday, even after South Korea's consumer price inflation slowed in June but remained above the central bank's target for the third straight month. The data from Statistics Korea showed that consumer prices grew 2.4 percent year-on-year in June, slower than the 2.6 percent increase seen in May and the forecast of 2.5 percent. Nonetheless, the rate remained above the target of 2 percent since April. The 2.6 percent inflation rate posted in May was the highest since early 2012.

The BSE Sensex ended at 52484.67, up by 166.07 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 52177.68 and 52527.90. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.05%, while Small cap index up by 1.01%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.23%, Energy up by 1.04%, Healthcare up by 0.97%, Telecom up by 0.53% and Realty up by 0.52%, while Power down by 1.29%, Metal down by 1.17%, Utilities down by 0.86%, Capital Goods down by 0.36% and Oil & Gas down by 0.33% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 1.53%, Reliance Industries up by 1.50%, SBI up by 0.99%, Titan Co up by 0.84% and HDFC up by 0.61%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.36%, Power Grid down by 1.23%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.75%, Asian Paints down by 0.62% and Sun Pharma down by 0.58% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, credit rating agency, Moody's Investors Service in its latest report has said that India's economic damage due to the second wave of COVID-19 and subsequent lockdowns will remain restricted to the April to June quarter.

Rating agency assessed the overall economic effect of the second wave to be softer than that during the first wave of pandemic last year, although delivery of and access to vaccines will determine the durability of recovery.

Moody's expects the current lockdowns to have less of an adverse impact on economic activity than the nationwide lockdown in April 2020 because the latest restrictions have been more targeted, localised and less stringent.

The CNX Nifty ended at 15722.20, up by 42.20 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 15635.95 and 15738.35. There were 26 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Divi's Lab up by 1.89%, ICICI Bank up by 1.49%, Reliance Industries up by 1.48%, Coal India up by 1.37% and Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.04%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.37%, Britannia down by 1.40%, JSW Steel down by 1.36%, Power Grid down by 1.23% and Hindalco down by 0.88% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in green, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 12.60 points or 0.18% to 7,137.76 and Germany’s DAX was up by 40.56 points or 0.26% to 15,644.37. On the flip side, France’s CAC was down by 1.03 points or 0.02% to 6,552.79.

Asian markets closed mostly lower on Friday. Chinese and Hong Kong shares dropped a day after the Chinese Communist Party marked its centenary with tough talk by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Further, spikes in coronavirus infections too adding pressure on market sentiments. Although, Japanese shares ended higher even as Japan is expected to extend by two weeks or more coronavirus containment measures in the greater Tokyo area.