Market Wrap Podcast, June 7: Here's all that happened in the markets today

The domestic equity markets swung sharply on the upside in the afternoon deals on Monday after a tweet by the Prime Minister's Office said PM Narendra Modi will address the nation at 5 PM later in the day. Investors' confidence resonated in the markets as participants hoped the PM would throw a light on the state of the economy and may provide clarity on the vaccination drive.

That apart, Dalal Street was firmly in the grip of market bulls today as a little over 100,000 new Covid-19 infections across India in the past 24 hours, along with partial unlocking in key states like Maharashtra and Delhi, drove investors towards riskier assets.

Against this backdrop, the frontline S&P BSE Sensex hit the day's high of 52,379 while the Nifty50 touched a record peak of 15,773. While the indices came off highs mildly, they still managed to end about 0.4 per cent higher. By close, the Sensex index was at 52,328.5 levels, up 228 points and the Nifty50 was at 15,751.6 levels, up 81 points.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap index hit a fresh record peak of 22,739 in intra-day trade but closed at 22,690 levels, up 0.8 per cent. The BSE SmallCap index, on the other hand, hit a record peak of 24,618 earlier today but ended at 24,609 levels, up 1.4 per cent.

Individually, Adani Ports, Power Grid, NTPC, Shree Cement, Tata Motors, UltraTech Cement, Coal India and Tata Consumer Products were the top gainers on the Nifty while Reliance Industries, IndusInd Bank, Tech M, and L&T were the additional gainers on the Sensex.

On the downside, Bajaj Finance was the top laggard on the indices, down 4.4 per cent, as the consumer financier voiced concerns over asset quality issues due to localised lockdowns following a second wave of Covid-19. In a mid-quarter update, the company said its B2B and Auto Finance businesses were most affected due to strict lockdowns with their volumes dropping to 40 per cent in May. As a result, analysts have cut their FY22 earnings estimates by up to 12 per cent.

Among key mid-, and small-cap stocks, shares of TVS Motor Company jumped 6 per cent at Rs 663 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in intra-day trade on Monday after around 24.4 million shares, or 5.13 per cent stake, of the two-wheeler (2-Ws) company changed hands via a block deal. The stock was trading close to its 52-week high level of Rs 666 touched on May 27, 2021.

Besides, shares of Reliance Infrastructure -- the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) company -- touched 5 per cent upper circuit at Rs 73.3 apiece after its Board of Directors on Sunday approved raising of up to Rs 550.56 crore. As per technical charts, the stock may rally another 18 per cent if it stays above Rs 72-mark.

Lastly, shares of sugar companies were on a roll as Dalmia Bharat Sugar and Industries, Avadh Sugar & Energy, Triveni Engineering & Industries, Uttam Sugar Mills and Dwarikesh Sugar Industries rallied between 10 per cent and 19 per cent on the BSE in intra-day trade on Monday on the back of heavy volumes. Shree Renuka Sugars, Dhampur Sugar Mills and Balrampur Chini Mills also gained in the range of 8 per cent to 10 per cent.  

Sectorally, the Nifty IT, Media, and Private Bank indices ended the session as top gainers, up around 1 per cent each, while the Nifty Metal index was the top loser, down 0.5 per cent.

Global markets
 

World shares were range bound on Monday as markets digested Friday’s disappointing US jobs report and a global tax deal between the G7 group of countries, while also looking ahead to inflation data due this week.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.05 per cent, Japan's Nikkei edged up 0.3 per cent, while Taiwan stocks lost 0.4 per cent. Chinese blue chips were also off 0.1 per cent.

In Europe, the pan-European STOXX 600 index was flat in early deals.