The benchmark indices were trading with steep losses in early afternoon trade, dragged by weakness in financial stocks. The Nifty held above 15,800 mark.
At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, dropped 426.39 points or 0.80% at 52,713.67. The Nifty 50 index skid 117.40 points or 0.74% at 15,806.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.02% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.31%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,837 shares rose and 1,342 shares fell. A total of 174 shares were unchanged.
Economy:
Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian reportedly said on Friday that the country's economy will start witnessing a growth of 6.5% to 7% from fiscal 2023 onwards, helped by various reforms undertaken by the government so far and also as COVID-19 vaccination drive progresses. Mr. Subramanian expects the impact of the second wave not to be very significant.
Politics:
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The monsoon session of the Parliament will begin today (19 July) and it will conclude on 13 August 2021. The government has listed 17 new bills for introduction in the session. Apart from the new bills, the legislations to be introduced in Lok Sabha include three bills to replace existing ordinances.
The government and the opposition are likely to discuss raging issues of the COVID-19 pandemic, farmers' protest, fuel prices hike and vaccination strategy.
The report about phones of at least 40 journalists hacked using Pegasus is also expected to come up during the session. Telephone numbers of some 40 Indian journalists figure in a "leaked list of potential targets for surveillance" and forensic tests were said to have "confirmed that some of them were successfully snooped upon by an unidentified agency using Pegasus software", the media reported on Sunday.
Coronavirus Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 19,04,26,864 with 40,89,030 deaths. India reported 4,21,665 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,14,108 deaths while 3,03,08,456 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
India on Monday, 19 July 2021 reported 38,164 new COVID-19 cases and 499 deaths, as per health ministry's updated data. The active cases in the country now stand at 4,21,665.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, spurted 5.48% to 12.3475. The Nifty 29 July 2021 futures were trading at 15,818.55, at a premium of 12.55 points as compared with the spot at 15,806.
The Nifty option chain for 29 July 2021 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 30.60 lakh contracts at the 16,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 36.7 lakh contracts was seen at 15,000 strike price.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Financial Services index slipped 1.52% to 16,627.75. The index skid 1.76% in two sessions.
HDFC Asset Management Company (AMC) (down 2.87%), HDFC Bank (down 2.78%), Shriram Transport Finance Company (down 2.72%), Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services (down 1.82%) and Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) (down 1.77%) declined.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) rose 0.32%. L&T Construction, the construction arm of Larsen & Toubro (L&T), has won a slew of 'significant' orders in India and abroad for its various businesses. The power transmission & distribution business has won an order to construct a 220kV transmission line associated with system strengthening in the Ladakh region. The design and execution of this system involves traversing avalanche prone, hilly terrains and ice loading of conductors. Another turnkey order has been received for urban power distribution in Ayodhya city under the Integrated Power Development Scheme.
Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar hit an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 20.15. Punjab National Bank (PNB) offloaded 2,27,12,389 equity shares, or 2.004% stake, of Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar between 29 June 2021 and 15 July 2021. Post transaction, PNB has decreased its stake in Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar to 9.23% from 11.23% held earlier. The deal was executed as an open market sale.
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