Market Wrap Podcast, June 30: Here's all that happened in the markets today

Investors booked profit at the bourses for the third consecutive day as lack of fresh triggers left participants directionless about the markets. While the indices did start higher on Wednesday, last-hour sell-off in all but IT space pushed the markets in the red.

The frontline S&P BSE Sensex cooled off 393 points from day's high to end at 52,483 levels, down 67 points or 0.13 per cent. The Nifty50 also eased 27 points, or 0.17 per cent, to settle at 15,721 level.

Index heavyweights Reliance Industries, Infosys, Maruti Suzuki, TCS, and Nestle India gained between 0.6 per cent and 1.2 per cent to support the indices even as losses in ICICI Bank, HDFC, HUL, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel, and Tech Mahindra capped gains.

Trend in the broader markets was mixed. The BSE MidCap index slipped 0.03 per cent while the BSE SmallCap index ended 0.56 per cent up.

Individually, shares of Cipla hit a record high of Rs 997.20 as they rose nearly 2 per cent on the BSE in intra-day trade after Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) permitted the firm to import Moderna's Covid Vaccine with emergency use authorisation in India. In the past two days, the scrip has gained 4 per cent.

That apart, Uflex shares also hit a fresh lifetime high after they zoomed 20 per cent to Rs 573 on the BSE in intra-day trade on the back of a robust March quarter (Q4FY21) result. India's largest multinational flexible packaging company and a global player in polymer sciences posted a 163 per cent year on year (YoY) jump in its consolidated net profit at Rs 264.7 crore supported by healthy operational performance.

On the downside, shares of listed airline players InterGlobe Aviation and SpiceJet slipped 0.3 per cent and 1.5 per cent, respectively after the government extended ban on international passenger flights till July 31, 2021.

Sectorally, the Nifty IT index ended 0.6 per cent higher with Happiest Minds, Coforge, Mphasis, Infosys, Tech M, and Wipro rallying up to 7.5 per cent. Analysts at Kotak Securities expect robust revenue growth of 3-4.5 per cent sequentially for Tier-1 companies except HCL Tech. As regards Midcaps, the brokerage expects growth rates ranging from 3.5-7 per cent QoQ. Revenue growth, it says, is expected to climb between 9-19 per cent on a YoY basis courtesy of strong recovery and low base of June 2020.

All other indices settled lower with the Nifty Media index down 0.8 per cent and the Nifty Bank index down 0.7 per cent.

According to a report by S&P, Indian banks face systemic risks as the country wades through the aftermath of the Covid-19 second wave. The banking sector's weak loans are likely to remain elevated at 11-12 per cent of gross loans in the next 12-18 months.

The second wave, it says, will impair the performance of Indian financial institutions in the first half of fiscal 2022, with much resting on the effectiveness of government measures to address this problem.

Global markets

US stock futures indicated a flat-to-negative start on Wall Street later in the day. Dow Jones Futures were down 50 points, or 0.16 per cent, at 4:30 PM while S&P 500 Futures and Nasdaq Composite Futures slipped 0.1 per cent each.

In Europe as well, shares fell on Wednesday as worries about rising inflation and the Delta variant of the novel coronavirus hit economically sensitive sectors. The pan-European Stoxx 600 fell 0.9 per cent by mid-morning, with autos tumbling 2.4 per cent.

In Asia, shares ended mixed. Japan's Nikkei dipped 0.07 per cent but South Korea's Kospi and China's Shanghai Composite added 0.3 per cent and 0.5 per cent, respectively.