The domestic equity benchmarks ended with strong gains on Thursday. The Nifty closed near the 15,700 mark. Capital goods shares advanced for fourth day.
As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 382.95 points or 0.74% to 52,232.43. The Nifty 50 index gained 114.15 points or 0.73% to 15,690.35. The Nifty hit a record high of 15,705.10 in late trade today.
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, tumbled 8.51% to 15.75.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index, both added 1.04% each.
The market breadth favored the buyers. On the BSE, 2190 shares rose and 979 shares fell. A total of 142 shares were unchanged.
COVID-19 Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 17,16,80,288 with 36,91,773 deaths. India reported 17,13,413 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 3,37,989 deaths while 2,63,90,584 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
India's daily new COVID-19 cases continued to remain below 2 lakh for the seventh day in a row. The country reported 1,34,154 new COVID-19 cases and 2,887 deaths on Thursday. A total of 2,11,499 patients have been discharged in the last 24 hours, taking the country's active cases tally to 17,13,413.
Economy:
IHS Markit India Services PMI stood at 46.4 in May 2021, down from 54.0 in April 2021. The figure contracted for the first time in eight months. The latest reading pointed to a solid rate of reduction that was nevertheless slower than those seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak. According to panel members, the fall in output stemmed from the escalation of the pandemic and the reintroduction of restrictions.
Meanwhile, India's merchandise exports in the last month recorded a steep rise of over 67% compared to the corresponding period last year. The Union Commerce & Industry Ministry has informed that in the month of May this year the total merchandise export from the country stood at over $32 billion.
It informed that the figure is nearly 8% higher even when compared to the pre COVID-19 statistics for the month of May in 2019. Collectively the merchandise export for the month of April 2021 and May this year is more than 12.5% as compared to the corresponding period in the year 2019.
The Commerce Ministry also informed that the merchandise imports in the first two months of the current financial year has been recorded to be 5.41% less than that of the corresponding period in 2019. However, due to the value of the imports pegged at around $38 billion, the country has registered a trade deficit of over $6 billion in the previous month.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Reliance Industries (RIL) added 0.47% to Rs 2211.60. In its annual report for 2020-21, RIL said it has initiated the proceedings of carving out its O2C businesses into a separate subsidiary and the process is expected to be completed in CY 2021. Through the COVID-19 crisis, RIL operated its O2C facilities at near 100% by shifting products to export markets to sustain operating rates.
Mukesh Ambani said RIL now has a strong balance-sheet with high liquidity that will support the growth plans for telecom, retail and O2C. The highlight of financing activity in FY 2020-21, was an early prepayment of $7.8 billion of long-term foreign currency debt, undertaken in 2Q and 3Q FY 2021.
During the fiscal, RIL raised Rs 2,60,074 crore ($36 billion), through rights issue and asset monetisation. The company remains firmly committed to efficient financing of its working capital, across all formats of businesses, and maintains a strong liquidity position with more than Rs 2.5 lakh crore of cash and cash equivalent in its consolidated balance sheet.
The company said that it will continue to upgrade the strategy and roadmap with an endeavor to achieve Net Carbon Zero target sooner than 2035.
RIL said that gas is expected to play a key role as a transition fuel and share of gas in energy mix is expected to increase from 6% to 15% by CY 2030. RIL, with development of three deepwater gas projects in KG D6, will continue to play a key role.
While two projects have been successfully commissioned, one project is expected to come onstream in FY 2022-23. With this, RIL is expecting to reach a peak production of approximately 30 MMSCMD in CY 2023, i.e., approximately 25% of India's production and approximately 15% of India's demand.
Qualcomm and Jio successfully tested 5G solutions in India, achieving the 1 Gbps milestone on Jio 5G solution.
Meanwhile, RIL has submitted a proposal for the use of an oral, anti-viral drug Niclosamide as a potential COVID-19 medicine. Niclosamide is an antihelminthic used for the treatment of tapeworm infections. RIL, which mentioned about the application in its annual report for financial year 2021, did not provide any further details.
RIL's 44th Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on June 24 at 14:00 IST through video conferencing and other audio visual means (OAVM).
Snowman Logistics soared 11% to Rs 57 after the company said it has partnered with Dr. Reddy's Laboratories for Sputnik COVID-19 vaccine in India. The company will manage the delivery through five of its high-capacity temperature-controlled warehouses in Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru.
MTAR Technologies advanced 1.47% to Rs 1026.85. The company's consolidated net profit surged 103% to Rs 18.01 crore on 12.3% rise in net sales to Rs 69.16 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20. The company's order book stood at Rs 415.9 crore as of 31 March 2021 compared with Rs 345.1 crore on 1 April 2020.
Ruchi Soya Industries hit an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 1,137.50 after the company said it has forayed into the nutraceuticals and wellness products segment. The company is launching 10 products, viz. Vitamin B12, Iron complex, Vitamin D, Vitamin C & Zinc complex, Daily active, Daily Energy, Weight Gain and Omega and shall soon introduce additional products in the market.
Rossari Biotech added 2.18% to Rs 1291.40 after the company announced that its board of directors has approved the acquisition of Unitop Chemicals for a consideration of Rs 421 crore. The combination of Unitop Chemicals with Rossari will augment the quality and acceleration of the company's growth going forward.
Panacea Biotec fell 3.64% to Rs 400.20 after the company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 54.14 crore in Q4 FY21 as against a net loss of Rs 69.70 crore in Q4 FY20. Net sales during the quarter increased by 34.2% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 168.27 crore.
The company's board has approved raising of funds through one or more permissible mechanisms as may be deemed appropriate by the board, for an amount up to and not exceeding Rs 1,200 crore or it is equivalent in any other currency(ies), in one or more tranches.
Ratnamani Metals & Tubes rose 1.69% to Rs 1981.10. The company reported a 62.5% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 109.43 crore in Q4 FY21 compared with Rs 67.34 crore in Q4 FY20. Net sales gained 10.5% YoY to Rs 696.08 crore in Q4 FY21.
Buzzing Index:
Shares of capital goods makers were in demand as the S&P BSE Capital Goods advanced 1.42% to 23,011.98. The index has added 2.38% in four sessions.
Thermax (up 5.32%), Larsen & Toubro (up 2.70%), Havells (up 2.45%), Siemens (up 2.23%) and SKF India (up 1.46%) advanced.
Global Markets:
European shares declined across the board while most Asian stocks ended higher on Thursday.
A private survey released Thursday showed slowing Chinese services activity growth in May. China's Caixin/Markit services Purchasing Managers' Index for May came in at 55.1 on Thursday, lower than the reading of 56.3 in April. Still, that was well above the 50 level that separates expansion from contraction.
US stocks rose slightly on Wednesday with the S&P 500 hovering near an all-time high.
The U.S. Federal Reserve published its "Beige Book" report, which pointed to labour shortages and inflation pressures.
Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker said it's appropriate to slowly, carefully move back on bond purchases at the appropriate time.
Investors are also digesting President Joe Biden's plans to amend a U.S. ban on investments in companies linked to China's military, and looking ahead to Friday's U.S. jobs report for the latest insight into the rebound from the pandemic and inflation risks.
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