Sensex, Nifty Hit New Highs, Settle On Firm Note

Despite a sluggish start, the Indian stock market ended on a firm note on Monday, led largely by gains in the metals section.

Shares from information technology, healthcare, automobile and financial sectors were weak.

Strong earnings updates from several companies and optimism about fairly strong economic rebound helped keep investor sentiment upbeat.

The BSE benchmark Sensex and the National Stock Exchange’s Nifty, both climbed to new record highs. The Sensex, which rose to 55,680.75, settled at 55,582.58, gaining 145.29 points or 0.26 percent.

The Nifty ended with a gain of 33.95 points or 0.21 percent at 16,563.05, after climbing to a high of 16,589.40.

Tata Steel surged up 3.7 percent, lifted by strong results. The company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 8,907 crore in the June quarter as against a loss of Rs 4,416 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Bajaj Finance gained 3.3 percent, Mahindra & Mahindra, Britannia Industries and Indian Oil Corporation moved up 2.3 to 2.7 percent, and BPCL gained about 1.9 percent.

JSW Steel, Bajaj Finserv and HDFC also posted strong gains, while Hindustan Unilever, NTPC and Nestle ended modestly higher.

Reliance Industries gained about 1.1 percent. Saudi Aramco is reportedly in advanced talks for an all-stock deal to acquire a stake in Reliance Industries Ltd.’s oil refining and chemicals business.

Maruti Suzuki, Shree Cement, Eicher Motor, Bajaj Auto and Power Grid Corporation shed 2 to 2.7 percent, while State Bank of India, UltraTech Cement, Coal India, Tata Motors, Divi’s Laboratories, Tech Mahindra and Hero Motocorp lost 0.9 to 1.7 percent.

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited shares rallied more than 7 percent on upbeat results. Apollo Hospitals reported consolidated net profit of Rs 489 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2021, as against net loss of Rs 208 crore in the April-June quarter last year.

Cadila Healthcare, Gland Pharma and Aurobindo Pharma declined 4.7 percent, 4.4 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively.

Devyani International made a strong debut, gaining more than 51 percent, listing at Rs 141. However, the stock declined subsequently on profit taking and settled at Rs 122.60.

Shares of Krsnaa Diagnotics settled at Rs 978 after climbing to Rs 1005.55 at the start. Exxaro Tiles (up 5 percent) had a good first outing, while Windlas Biotech declined more than 7 percent from issue price.

Data released by the government Monday said wholesale price inflation rate in India eased to 11.16 percent year-on-year in July 2021, from 12.07 percent in the previous month. The rate was expected to come in at 11.3 percent.

Manufactured products inflation rose to 11.20 percent in the month from 10.88 percent year-on-year. On a monthly basis, wholesale prices increased by 0.6 percent in July.

Cost for primary articles advanced at a softer pace of 5.72 percent, compared to 7.74 percent in the prior period, as food articles were unchanged (from 3.09 percent in June) while non-food articles inflation accelerated (22.94 percent from 18.86 percent a month earlier). In addition, prices of fuel & power advanced 26.02 percent, slower than 32.83 percent in June, the data showed.