Indian equity benchmarks continued to show a positive trend in late afternoon session. Traders were seen piling up positions in Metal, Energy and Oil & Gas sectors while selling was witnessed in Telecom, Power and Consumer Durables sectors’ stocks. Traders took support as foreign portfolio investors (FPI) have made a net investment of Rs 2,085 crore so far in August in Indian equities. The FPIs have made a comeback after a net outflow of Rs 11,308 crore in July. With the investments in August, the net FPI investment in the equities segment in 2021 now stands at Rs 51,121 crore. Besides, India’s inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) eased to 11.16% in the month of July as against 12.07% in June. The annual rate of inflation is 11.16% (Provisional) for the month of July 2021 as compared to (-0.25%) in July 2020.
On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red after a raft of Chinese data showed a surprisingly sharp slowdown in the engine of global growth, just as much of the world races to stem the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19 with vaccinations. European markets were trading lower, as weak Chinese economic data pointed to a Covid-induced slowdown while geopolitical turmoil prompted caution.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 55596.65, up by 159.36 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 55281.02 and 55680.75. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.
The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.33%, while Small cap index was down by 0.56%.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.51%, Energy up by 1.23%, Oil & Gas up by 0.60%, Basic Materials up by 0.49% and FMCG was up by 0.12%, while Telecom down by 1.00%, Power down by 0.87%, Consumer Durables down by 0.83%, Auto down by 0.83% and Utilities was down by 0.70% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 4.43%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.40%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.36%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.83% and Reliance Industries up by 1.60%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.07%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.98%, Power Grid down by 1.90%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.56% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.32% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, India’s inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) eased to 11.16% in the month of July as against 12.07% in June. The annual rate of inflation is 11.16% (Provisional) for the month of July 2021 as compared to (-0.25%) in July 2020.
Component wise, primary articles index having weight of 22.62%, increased by (1.05%) to 153.4 (provisional) in July 2021 from 151.8 (provisional) for the month of June 2021. Prices of Crude Petroleum & Natural Gas, Non-food Articles and Food Articles increased in July 2021 as compared to June 2021. However, prices of Minerals declined in July 2021 as compared to June 2021.
Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15%, increased by (0.53%) to 114.3 (provisional) in July 2021 from 113.7 (provisional) for the month of June 2021. Besides, Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23%, increased by (0.38%) to 132.0 (provisional) in July 2021 from 131.5 (provisional) for the month of June 2021.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16567.20, up by 38.10 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 16480.75 and 16585.45. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 4.38%, JSW Steel up by 2.52%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.37%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.33% and BPCL up by 1.93%. On the flip side, Shree Cement down by 2.21%, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.10%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.03%, Power Grid down by 1.87% and Eicher Motors down by 1.64% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Nikkei 225 slipped 453.96 points or 1.62% to 27,523.19, Hang Seng decreased 210.16 points or 0.8% to 26,181.46, Taiwan Weighted dropped 123.34 points or 0.73% to 16,858.77, Jakarta Composite lost 51.58 points or 0.84% to 6,087.91, KOSPI fell 37.09 points or 1.16% to 3,171.29 and Straits Times was down by 15.13 points or 0.48% to 3,150.36. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was up by 1.04 points or 0.03% to 3,517.34.
European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 64.37 points or 0.89% to 7,154.34, France’s CAC decreased 50.55 points or 0.73% to 6,845.49 and Germany’s DAX was down by 72.94 points or 0.46% to 15,904.50.