The domestic equity benchmarks managed to close with decent gains after a volatile session on Monday. The Nifty closed just shy of the 16,500 mark. IT stocks climbed while auto and metal shares tumbled.
The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 226.47 points or 0.41% to 55,555.79. The Nifty 50 index gained 45.95 points or 0.28% to 16,496.45.
Bajaj Finserv (up 2.06%), Nestle India (up 1.78%), Bharti Airtel (up 1.57%), Bajaj Finance (up 1.46%) and Reliance Industries (up 0.75%) supported the indices.
Mahindra & Mahindra (down 2.50%), Bajaj Auto (down 2.23%), UltraTech Cement (down 1.88%) and ITC (down 1.29%) were major drags.
In th broader market, the BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.90% and the BSE Small-Cap index lost 1.55%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 777 shares rose and 2470 shares fell. A total of 146 shares were unchanged.
COVID-19 Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 21,18,44,766 with 44,31,554 deaths. India reported 3,33,924 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,34,756 deaths while 3,16,80,626 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Economy:
Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman, will launch the National Monetisation Pipeline on Monday (23 August) at New Delhi. The National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) comprises a four-year pipeline of the Central Government's brownfield infrastructure assets.
Besides providing visibility to investors, NMP will also serve as a medium-term roadmap for the Asset Monetisation initiative of the Government. The Union Budget 2021-22 laid a lot of emphasis on Asset Monetisation as a means to raise innovative and alternative financing for infrastructure, and included a number of key announcements.
Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Railways Raosaheb Danve said that railway has suffered a loss of Rs 36,000 crore due to the corona pandemic. Railway is facing a 48% loss in passenger service. He was speaking in an event organised at Jalna Railway station in Maharashtra.
Danve said, Mumbai-Nagpur High Speed train project is an ambitious project of the railway ministry and it is on priority list. Doubling of tracks between Manmad and Nanded will also be completed on priority basis. But other railway projects will be done after checking the feasibility of the project.
Numbers to Watch:
The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 6.242% compared with 6.234% at close in the previous trading session.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 74.22, compared with its close of 74.3950 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 5 October 2021 settlement rose 0.09% to Rs 47,200.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, fell 0.24% to 93.27.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for October 2021 settlement rose $1.94 at $67.12 a barrel. The contract fell $1.27, or 1.91% to settle at $65.18 a barrel in the previous trading session.
Foreign Markets:
Shares in Europe and Asia advanced across the board on Monday as traders sought to take advantage of last week's selloff while weighing risks from the delta virus strain and China's regulatory curbs.
Major U.S. stock averages rebounded on Friday boosted by tech stocks. Fed officials are set to gather for their annual meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyo., from Thursday. Market participants will be awaiting insights into the Fed's taper talks as many central bankers aim to move away from easy policy.
Buzzing Indian Segment:
The Nifty IT index rose 1.70% to 33,919.80. The index has climbed 11.29% so far in August 2021.
MindTree (up 4.93%), Larsen & Toubro Infotech (up 2.50%), TCS (up 2.12%), Coforge (up 1.51%), Wipro (up 1.35%), Tech Mahindra (up 1.13%), Mphasis (up 1.04%) and Infosys (up 0.38%) advanced.
HCL Tehnologies jumped 4.26%. The IT major said it signed a contract with Munich Re to create a next-generation digital workplace for its workforce.
As per of the contract, HCL Tech will modernize and standardize workplace services for more than 16,000 Munich Re employees in 40 countries. HCL will adopt a glocal strategy to support Munich Re's global workforce in multiple languages, including German, Spanish and Mandarin, from near-shore locations. It will also implement a highly personalized service desk solution and leverage the power of automation and self-service capabilities to improve efficiency and enhance employee user experiences.
Stocks in Spotlight:
SRF added 0.77%. The company informed that a meeting of the board of directors of the will be held on Tuesday, 31 August 2021 to consider issuance of bonus shares.
Ramkrishna Forgings fell 0.86%. The company said that its board will meet on Friday, 27 August 2021, to consider fund raising plans. The funds would be raised via issue of either equity or debt or any other methods or combination thereof, subject to necessary approvals.
Aurobindo Pharma added 0.24%. The company has terminated the agreement to acquire 51% ownership in Cronus Pharma. The company, on August 12, 2021, had entered into binding agreements with Cronus Pharma Specialities India for acquisition of 51% ownership in Cronus Pharma for an aggregate consideration of Rs 420 crore.
Cronus is a pharmaceutical company developing, manufacturing and distributing generic veterinary pharmaceutical products. Cronus has a factory at Hyderabad with 67 products in its pipeline, of which 22 have been filed and 6 have been approved by the Centre for Veterinary Medicine, USFDA. The acquisition would reportedly have provided Aurobindo Pharma a foothold in the $48 billion global animal health market.
Cadila Healthcare rose 2.21%. The pharmaceutical major said that the company has received the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for ZyCoV-D the world's first Plasmid DNA Vaccine for COVID-19.
Arvind Fashions jumped 9.13%. The company's board approved the preferential allotment of equity shares worth Rs 439 crore to various marquee investors including promoters at the price of Rs 218.50.
Steel Strips Wheels (SSWL) shed 2.68%. The company announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for close to $105 million from Western Hemisphere. As per the MoU, SSWL will supply steel and aluminium wheels for a minimum period of three years. Supplies of steel wheels will begin from Chennai and Dappar plant by September 2021 and supplies from Mehsana plant for the aluminium wheels will begin by end of December 2021.
New Listing:
Shares of Nuvoco Vistas Corporation, India's fifth-largest cement maker, settled at Rs 531.30, a discount of 6.79% compared with the issue price of Rs 570 per share. The scrip was listed at Rs 471 per share, a discount of 17.36% to the initial public offer (IPO) price.
The stock has hit a high of Rs 550 and a low of Rs 471 during the trading session. On the BSE, over 8.21 lakh shares of the company were traded during the day.
The IPO of Nuvoco Vistas Corporation received bids for 10.70 crore shares as against 6.25 crore shares on offer, according to stock exchange data. The issue was subscribed 1.71 times. The issue opened for bidding on 9 August 2021 and closed on 11 August 2021. The price band of the IPO was fixed at Rs 560-570 per share.
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