Equity markets resumed their upward journey after a one-day hiatus on Wednesday, as investors looked past overnight weakness on Wall Street and focused on stock-specific developments.
The S&P BSE Sensex jumped 193.5 points, or 0.37 per cent, to end the volatile session at a new closing peak of 53,055 levels while the NSE's Nifty50 shut shop at 15,880, up 61 points or 0.39 per cent.
In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices rallied 0.58 per cent and 0.38 per cent, respectively.
Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Bajaj Finserv, Hindalco, UPL, Nestle India, HDFC, IndusInd Bank, and Adani Ports ended as the top gainers on the benchmarks, up between 1 per cent and 5 per cent. On the downside, Titan Company, ONGC, SBI Life, Maruti Suzuki, Shree Cement, and Reliance Industries were the top laggards, down up to 2 per cent.
Among these, shares of Tata Steel jumped 5 per cent on the NSE after the company estimated Rs 10,000-12,000 crore per annum capex plan over the next 5 years, excluding potential acquisitions. The company further intends to reduce gross debt by over $2 billion in FY22 as against a $1 billion annual debt reduction target set earlier.
On the flipside, shares of Titan Company, the other Tata Group firm, dipped 3 per cent to Rs 1,717.55 on the BSE in intra-day trade, but settled 2 per cent lower, after its quarterly business update of Q1FY22 highlighted that healthy growth trajectory sustained till mid-April 2021 until lockdown disrupted demand.
The company recorded a revenue growth of around 117 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in Q2 with revenue contribution of nearly 50 per cent, 10 per cent and 40 per cent coming from April, May and June months, respectively. The figure was, however, down 60 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis.
Sectorally, realty and metal indices rose 2 per cent each as unsold real estate inventory declined further in Q2CY21 and as Tata Steel's capex plans gave a sentimental push to peer stocks. Besides, expectations that higher export orders and lower raw material prices may support profitability margins of steel players during the current financial year 2021-22 (FY22) also boosted sentiment.
Sobha, Brigade Enterprises, Godrej Properties, and Indiabulls Real Estate from the realty pack and Hindalco, Jindal Steel, JSW Steel, SAIL, Tata Steel, and Nalco from the metal pack advanced between 2 per cent and 6 per cent on the NSE.
Meanwhile, all other key sectoral indices gained up to 0.6 per cent each, except the Nifty Auto index, which slipped 0.07 per cent.
In the primary market, the three-day initial public offers of GR Infraprojects and Clean Science and Technology sailed through on Day 1. GR Infra's issue was subscribed 2.18 times till 4:30 PM while that of Clean Sciences was subscribed 1.64 times.
Global markets
US equity-index futures rose along with stocks in Europe as investors awaited minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting for clues on policy makers' thinking on interest rates and stimulus. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 0.6 per cent, led by gains in commodity sectors.
In Asia, stocks fell with Chinese tech firms in Hong Kong retreating after Beijing's cybersecurity probe. Hang Seng declined 0.4 per cent, Japan's Nikkei tumbled 0.96 per cent, and South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.6 per cent.
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