Local equity markets trimmed most of their gains, but continued to trade in green in late afternoon session. Traders took support after country's exports rose by 50.45 percent to $7.41 billion during August 1-7, on account of healthy growth in the shipments of engineering goods, gems and jewellery as well as petroleum products. However, upside remained capped, as country’s unemployment rate rose to a six-week high of 8.1% in the week ended August 8, 2021. Sector wise, oil & gas sector remained in focused, as India's fuel demand rose 7.9 percent in July compared with the same month last year. Data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry showed consumption of fuel, a proxy for oil demand, totalled 16.83 million tonnes.
On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, as concerns over the spread of the Delta variant and expectations of earlier tapering by the Federal Reserve offset strong corporate earnings, while gold and oil recovered after their sharp falls. European markets were trading mostly in green as investors backed the region’s recovery from coronavirus lockdowns and awaited the release of US inflation data.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 54,475.34, up by 72.49 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 54331.53 and 54779.66. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.
The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 1.57%, while Small cap index was down by 2.92%.
The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.14%, TECK up by 0.55% and IT was up by 0.35%, while Realty down by 3.30%, Metal down by 3.09%, Basic Materials down by 2.79%, PSU down by 2.49% and Industrials was down by 2.40% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.64%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.72%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.56%, HDFC up by 1.41% and Infosys up by 0.72%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 3.01%, Power Grid down by 2.58%, SBI down by 2.49%, NTPC down by 2.27% and ITC down by 2.22% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, lauding the contribution of traders in Indian economy, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, and Textiles Piyush Goyal has said that traders are the backbone of the country’s economy and financial powers.
Besides, he said that traders are the true ambassadors of Brand India. He asked the traders to push for the PM’s clarion call for “Vocal for Local” and become ambassadors of brand India. Goyal said that India is becoming a global platform for goods and services and asked traders to become Atmanirbhar on all fronts of commerce and trade.
Piyush Goyal also stressed that trade is not an exchange of goods but is an exchange of culture, goodwill and trust also. The key to it is Quality and productivity. The minister also stressed on ensuring sale of quality products to achieve the above goals.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16,266.85, up by 8.60 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 16204.70 and 16359.25. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 2.64%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.59%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.47%, HDFC up by 1.26% and Infosys up by 0.52%. On the flip side, Shree Cement down by 3.70%, Tata Steel down by 3.06%, JSW Steel down by 3.01%, Power Grid down by 2.61% and SBI down by 2.51% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mixed, Hang Seng increased 322.22 points or 1.23% to 26,605.62, Nikkei 225 surged 68.11 points or 0.24% to 27,888.15, Shanghai Composite gained 35.30 points or 1.01% to 3,529.93 and Straits Times advanced 27.03 points or 0.85% to 3,204.21. On the flip side, KOSPI fell 17.23 points or 0.53% to 3,243.19, Taiwan Weighted dropped 161.51 points or 0.92% to 17,323.64 and Jakarta Composite was down by 39.05 points or 0.64% to 6,088.41.
European markets were trading mostly in green, France’s CAC increased 2.15 points or 0.03% to 6,815.33 and Germany’s DAX was up by 11.40 points or 0.07% to 15,756.81. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 was down by 7.88 points or 0.11% to 7,124.42.