Market Wrap Podcast, June 9: Here's all that happened in the markets today

The Indian benchmark indices fell over half a per cent lower on Wednesday, dragged mainly by sell-off in public sector banks and auto stocks in the second half. The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 51,942, down 334 points, or 0.64 per cent, while the Nifty50 closed the session at 15,635-mark, down 105 points, or 0.67 per cent.

Larsen & Tourbo, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finserv, and IndusInd Bank were the top Sensex laggards while PowerGrid and NTPC were the top gainers.

In the broader market space, the S&P BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices ended the session 0.71 per cent and 0.95 per cent lower, respectively.

Individually, shares of Tata Motors hit an over three-year high of Rs 358.25, up 1.5 per cent, on the BSE in intra-day trade on Wednesday on the back of heavy volumes. However, the stock erased gains in the second half and ended the session 2.72 per cent lower at Rs 343.25.

Birlasoft shares surged 12 per cent to hit a new high of Rs 421 on the BSE in intra-day trade on Wednesday after the CK Birla Group company partnered with 'Regulativ.ai', to co-develop a new AI/ML-based cyber-regulatory reporting platform. The stock erased majority of the gains and closed the session 0.52 per cent higher at Rs 377.95.

All the Nifty sectoral indices ended today's session in the red, with Nifty Auto, Nifty PSU Bank, and Nifty Realty indexes falling over 1 per cent, each.

Global markets

European stocks steadied near record highs on Wednesday, with investors holding off on taking big bets ahead of a policy decision from the European Central Bank and U.S. inflation reading later this week.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index slipped 0.1 per cent, but stayed just short of a record high hit in the previous session. Other main regional bourses including Germany’s DAX were trading flat.

In Asia, the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan ticked down 0.15 per cent and Japan's Nikkei shed 0.25 per cent.

In commodities, oil prices continued to rally on Wednesday on signs of strong fuel demand in western economies, while the prospect of Iranian supplies returning faded as the U.S. secretary of state said sanctions against Tehran were unlikely to be lifted. Brent crude futures were last up 0.3 per cent at $72.42 a barrel.

In other news, equity mutual funds witnessed a net inflow of over Rs 10,000 crore in May, making it the third consecutive monthly infusion, data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India showed. This is a 14-month high i.e. highest since March 2020.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved the increase in the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for all mandated kharif crops for marketing season 2021-22. The Cabinet also approved allocation of 5MHz 4G spectrum for Railways.

Automotive Supplier Sona Comstar will launch its Rs 5,550-crore initial public offer (IPO) next week. The company has priced the offer at Rs 285–291 per share. The IPO will remain open between June 14 to June 16, and anchor investors will be allotted shares on Friday.