The key equity indices ended lower after a volatile trading session on Tuesday. The Nifty closed below the 15,750 mark. Pharma shares declined the most, followed by bank, auto and realty stocks while metal shares managed to outperform.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 273.51 points or 0.52% to 52,578.76. The Nifty 50 index lost 78 points or 0.49% to 15,746.45.

Among the Nifty stocks, Hindalco Industries (up 4.32%), SBI Life Insurance Company (up 3.19%), Tata Steel (up 2.74%) and Bajaj Finserv (up 2%) edged higher.

Adani Ports (down 3%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 2.32%), Grasim Industries (down 2.05%) and HDFC (down 1.34%) edged lower.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 0.67% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.11%.

Sellers outnumbered the buyers. On the BSE, 1604 shares rose and 1660 shares fell. A total of 110 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 19,47,23,719 with 41,67,658 deaths. India reported 3,98,100 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,21,382 deaths while 3,06,21,469 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

India on Tuesday reported 29,689 new cases, the number falling under 30,000 for the first time since 17 March 2021. The country's active caseload too has dropped, and now stands under 4 lakh. Even as the mass vaccination programme progresses, there are concerns about the private sector not administering enough doses. Despite being allotted 25% vaccines, private firms have vaccinated only 7% people so far.

Economy:

The second wave of COVID-19 may have a more lasting damage on the Indian economy and exports will once again be the foundation for recovery, Moody's Analytics said on Monday.

The Delta variant of COVID-19 is among factors now adversely affecting economies of the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, but the economic hit from the current round of movement restrictions in the region will not be as severe as the recessions in the second quarter of last year.

In India, where exports make up relatively small shares of the economy, high commodity prices have boosted the value of exports. This is one factor that helped reinvigorate India after its first devastating wave of COVID-19.

Primary Market:

The initial public offer of bulk drug and contract manufacturer Glenmark Life Sciences received bids for 3.60 crore shares as against 1.50 crore shares on offer on Tuesday (27 July 2021), according to stock exchange data at 15:20 IST. The issue was subscribed 2.40 times.

The Retail Individual Investors (RIIs) category was subscribed 4.47 times, as it received bids for 3.37 crore shares as against 75.43 lakh shares reserved for them.

The issue opened for bidding on Tuesday (27 July 2021) and it will close Thursday (29 July 2021). The price band of the IPO was fixed at Rs 695-720 per share. An investor can bid for a minimum of 20 equity shares and in multiples thereof.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index slumped 4.30% to 14,022.30. The index had advanced 1.20% in the past three sessions.

Lupin (down 4.89%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 4.70%), Cipla (down 3.58%), Divi's Labs (down 2.52%), Biocon (down 2.22%), Torrent Pharma (down 2.21%), Sun Pharma (down 2.15%), Cadila Healthcare (down 1.15%) and Alkem Laboratories (down 1.12%) declined.

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories slumped 10.67% to Rs 4832.15. The drug company's consolidated net profit fell 1.47% to Rs 570.8 crore in Q1 FY22 from Rs 579.30 crore reported in Q1 FY21. Consolidated revenue from operations increased by 11.3% to Rs 4,919 crore in Q1 FY22 from Rs 4,417.5 crore posted in Q1 FY21.

GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals fell 3.46% to Rs 1666.55. The pharmaceutical major's consolidated net profit grew 9.2% to Rs 121.08 crore on a 21.8% jump in net sales to Rs 789.99 crore in Q1 June 2021 over Q1 June 2020.

Earnings Impact:

Axis Bank fell 3.27% to Rs 731.40. The private sector bank reported a 94.2% jump in standalone net profit to Rs 2,160 crore on a 2.4% rise in total income to Rs 19,591 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21. The bank's net interest income (NII) grew 11% year on year (YoY) to Rs 7,760 crore from Rs 6,985 crore in Q1FY21. Net interest margin (NIM) for Q1 FY22 stood at 3.46%.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) added 0.64% to Rs 1608.10. The engineering and construction major's consolidated net profit soared 141.2% to Rs 1,556.18 crore on a 38% jump in revenue from operations to Rs 29,334.73 crore in Q1 June 2021 over Q1 June 2020.

L&T bagged orders worth Rs 26,557 crore at the Group level during the quarter ended 30 June 2021, registering a growth of 13% over corresponding period of the previous year. The consolidated order book of the group was stood at Rs 3,23,721 crore as on 30 June 2021, with international orders at 20% of the total order book.

DLF gained 0.97% to Rs 337.25. The realty major posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 337 crore in Q1 FY22 as against a net loss of Rs 70.65 crore registered in Q1 FY21. Net sales jumped 107.7% to Rs 1,139.53 crore in Q1 FY22 from Rs 548.63 crore registered in Q1 FY21.

Vedanta slipped 2.41% to Rs 264.95. The company's consolidated net profit soared 247% to Rs 5,282 crore on a 79.2% jump in net sales to Rs 28,105 crore in Q1 June 2021 over Q1 June 2020. Revenue for Q1 FY2022 was higher by 79.2% Y-o-Y (year-on-year), primarily due to improved commodity prices and higher volumes across businesses. The revenues for Q1 FY2022 was at Rs 28,105 crore, higher by 1% Q-o-Q (quarter-on-quarter), primarily due to improved commodity prices, partially offset by lower sales volume at Zinc India, Iron Ore & Steel and Copper business.

Tata Motors skid 0.77% to Rs 290.85. The auto major's consolidated net loss contracted to Rs 4,450.92 crore in Q1 June 2021 as compared to a net loss of Rs 8,437.99 crore in Q1 June 2020. Total revenue from operations soared 107.63% to Rs 66,406.45 crore in Q1 FY22 from Rs 31,983.06 crore in Q1 FY21.

Stocks in Spotlight:

IndusInd Bank shed 0.60% to Rs 975.40, ahead of the release of its quarterly results today.

APL Apollo Tubes jumped 8.74% to Rs 1748.55. The company said that its board will meet on Friday, 6 August 2021, to consider a proposal for issuance of bonus equity shares. On the same day, the board will also consider and approve the unaudited financial results of the company for the first quarter ended 30 June 2021.

Housing & Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) fell 3.92% to Rs 45.35 after the offer for sale (OFS) opened for non-retail investors today, 27 July 2021. Through the OFS, the Government of India proposes to sell up to 11,01,04,500 equity shares (representing 5.5% stake), with an option to sell an additional 2.5% stake or 5,00,47,500 equity shares in case of oversubscription. The floor price for the OFS set at Rs 45 per equity share.

As on 15:25 IST, the OFS received subscription for 17,42,34,625 shares. It was subscribed 175.83% on the base non-retail offer size of 9,90,94,050 shares.

Global Markets:

European markets declined across the board on Tuesday as investors continued to monitor corporate earnings, along with extreme weather and the spread of COVID-19 across the continent.

Asian stocks ended mostly lower today as several major Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong remained under pressure following a Monday tumble. Investors continued to assess the steep losses incurred in Chinese stocks sparked by Beijing's sweeping regulatory overhaul.

All three major US stock indexes eked out record closing highs for a second straight session on Monday as investors were optimistic heading into a slew of earnings from heavyweight technology and internet names this week, while caution ahead of a Federal Reserve policy meeting kept the market in check.

Investors will be watching the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting, beginning Tuesday. The Federal Open Market Committee and the Board of Governors are expected to issue a statement on the stance of monetary policy Wednesday. On Thursday, the Commerce Department will report second-quarter gross domestic product data.

Meanwhile, on the data front, sales of new U.S. single-family homes dropped unexpectedly in June, falling 6.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6,76,000 units, the Commerce Department said on Monday.

The domestic equity barometers ended near the day's low after a volatile session on Monday. The Nifty failed to close above the 15,850 mark. While realty and auto stocks declined the most, metals, pharma and IT shares managed to end in the green.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 123.53 points or 0.23% to 52,852.27. The Nifty 50 index lost 31.60 points or 0.20% to 15,824.45.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, jumped 5.84% to 12.45.

The broader indices outperformed the benchmarks. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.06% while The S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.34%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1839 shares rose and 1513 shares fell. A total of 157 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 19,41,65,023 with 41,59,142 deaths.

India reported 39,361 new COVID-19 cases, 35,968 recoveries, and 416 deaths in the last 24 hours. The total active cases in the country has now reached 4,11,189, the total recoveries are 3,05,79,106 and the death toll stands at 4,20,967. The total vaccinations stands at 43,51,96,001.

Politics:

B.S. Yediyurappa has reportedly announced his resignation as the Karnataka chief minister after weeks of uncertainty. While resigning, Yediyurappa was seen breaking down on the stage from where he made the announcement. Yediyurappa even issued a word of caution to colleagues and said people have lost their faith in the government, reports added.

Nifty Results Today:

Axis Bank (down 0.14%), Larsen & Toubro (L&T) (down 0.74%) Tata Motors (down 0.91%) will announce their quarterly results today.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Realty index fell 1.01% to 397. The index had advanced 3.1% in the past two sessions.

Indiabulls Real Estate (down 6.26%), The Phoenix Mills (down 2.80%), Hemisphere Properties India (down 1.67%), Prestige Estates (down 1.66%) and Godrej Properties (down 1.26%) declined.

Meanwhile, Brigade Enterprises (up 1.79%), Oberoi Realty (up 1.01%) and Sobha Developers (up 0.70%) bucked the trend.

Earnings Impact:

Kotak Mahindra Bank rose 0.84% at Rs 1737.50. The private sector bank reported a 32% increase in standalone net profit to Rs 1641.92 crore on a 5% rise in total income to Rs 8,062 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21.

Operating profit before provisions and contingencies jumped nearly 19% to Rs 3,121 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21. Net Interest Income (NII) for Q1FY22 increased to Rs 3,942 crore, from Rs 3,724 crore in Q1FY21, registering a growth of 6%. Net Interest Margin (NIM) for Q1 FY22 was at 4.60% as compared to 4.4% in Q1 FY21.

On the asset quality front, the bank's gross NPAs stood at 3.56% as on 30 June 2021 as against 3.25% as on 31 March 2021 and 2.7% as on 30 June 2020. The ratio of net NPAs stood at 1.28% as on 30 June 2021 as against 1.21% as on 31 March 2021 and 0.87% as on 30 June 2020.

Provision and Contingencies reduced by 3% to Rs 934 crore in Q1 FY22 over Rs 962 crore in Q1 FY21. COVID related provisions as at 30 June 2021 were maintained at Rs 1,279 crore. In accordance with the Resolution Framework for COVID-19 and MSME announced by RBI, the bank has implemented total restructuring of Rs 552 crore as at 30 June 2021. Capital adequacy ratio of the bank as per Basel III as at 30 June 2021 was 23.1% and Tier I ratio was 22.2%.

Reliance Industries (RIL) fell 1.53% to Rs 2073. The conglomerate reported a 7.3% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 12,273 crore on a 58.6% rise in net sales to Rs 139,949 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21. On a sequential basis, RIL's net profit declined 8% while net sales fell 6.44% in Q1 FY22 over Q4 FY21.

The telecom arm of RIL, Reliance Jio, witnessed a 44.9% year-on-year (YoY) growth in the net profit at Rs 3,651 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21. The consolidated revenue from operations grew by 9.8% to Rs 22,267 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21. Jio posted a total average revenue per customer (ARPU) during the quarter of Rs 138.40 per subscriber per month while customer base as on 30 June 2021 stood at 440.6 million with a net addition of 42.3 million customers year on year.

For Reliance Retail, net profit for the quarter was Rs 962 crore higher by 123% year on year. Gross Revenue stood at Rs 38,547 crore, rising by 21.9% year on year. Reliance Retail's store expansion was constrained during the quarter as the business opened 123 stores taking the total count to 12,803.

Oil to chemicals (O2C) segment, segment revenues for Q1 FY22 increased by 75.2% year on year to Rs 103,212 crore ($ 13.9 billion) primarily on account of sharp increase in product prices on the back of higher crude prices. RIL said downstream margins continued to remain strong with product deltas near or above 5-year averages. Favorable light-feed cracking environment and increased domestic gas availability helped O2C optimize its costs. O2C maintained its market share in domestic markets. In addition, O2C continues to strategically place its products in export markets.

In the oil and gas (exploration & production) business, segment revenue for Q1 FY22 increased by 153.2% year on year to Rs 1,281 crore. This was primarily due to smooth ramp up of gas production from R-Cluster and commencement of production from SatCluster field in KG D6 block. Price realization for CBM gas for the Quarter was higher by 16% at $ 6.01/mmbtu (GCV). Realizations in the US Shale business improved to $ 4.95/MCFe on the back of higher gas and condensate prices.

In the media business, revenue from operations rose 50% year on year to Rs 1,214 crore during Q1 FY22. Viewership share of TV entertainment rose further to 11%, up sharply from a low of 9.2% in Q1 FY21. On the back of a full roster of compelling content, the portfolio was able to re-scale adrevenue to the same levels as in 1Q FY20. News advertising remained resilient despite the second wave, led by a rise in news consumption and digital events replacing physical ones.

ITC slipped 0.68% to Rs 210.90. The tobacco major reported 28.6% rise in standalone net profit to Rs 3,013.49 crore on a 37.3% rise in net sales to Rs 12,142.43 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21. As compared to Q4 FY21, the company's net profit and net sales are lower by 19.6% and 7.7%, respectively.

Total FMCG segment revenue increased by 22.4% YoY to Rs 8,848 crore during the period under review. In the FMCG segment, cigarettes revenue rose by 32.9% YoY to Rs 5,122 crore while the revenue from other FMCG segment improved by 10.4% YoY to Rs 3,726 crore during the quarter.

Hotel business revenue stood at Rs 127 crore (up 4.6x YoY), agri-business revenue was at Rs 4,091 crore (up 9.2% YoY) and paperboards, paper & packaging revenues were at Rs 1,583 crore (up 54.2% YoY) in the first quarter of FY22.

With regard to the FMCG - Others business, the company said that both urban & rural growth rates in the FMCG Industry moderated in the immediate aftermath of the sharp rise in new cases; however there has been a progressive rebound since June'21 with the easing of restrictions and increase in mobility.

With regard to the FMCG - Cigarettes business, the company said that the strong volume recovery momentum witnessed in the second half of FY21 was impacted by localised lockdowns and restricted hours of convenience store operations in the wake of second wave of the pandemic. Product accessibility was sustained despite market disruptions leveraging the company's multi-channel distribution network. Certain markets in the South, metro cities and towns were relatively more impacted

“Wide availability of smuggled cigarettes continues despite deterrent actions by concerned authorities; this remains a key challenge for the legal cigarette industry which has witnessed significant reduction in volumes in recent years,” ITC added.

The second wave of the pandemic triggered a fresh round of mobility and travel restrictions leading to severe disruptions, impacting the progressive recovery witnessed in H2 of FY21 in the Hotels business. With reduction in new COVID infections and easing of travel restrictions in June'21, domestic leisure segment witnessed an uptick.

In the Agri Business, the company recorded strong growth in Wheat, Rice & Leaf Tobacco exports and Soya in the domestic market.

In the Paperboards and Specialty Papers Business, domestic customer offtake saw positive trends in most key segments such as pharma and consumer goods. However, certain end-user segments such as publications, cupstock, On-the-Go liquid packaging and wedding cards continued to be impacted by the pandemic-related disruptions.

United Spirits fell 3.72% to Rs 658. The liquor major's consolidated net profit stood at Rs 50.30 crore in Q1 June 2021 compared with net loss of Rs 246.60 crore in Q1 June 2020. Revenue from operations soared 66.8% to Rs 1721.70 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21.

Reported net sales increased after the company witnessed a healthy momentum in demand for the first three weeks of April 2021 until the second COVID-19 surge in India hit alarming levels and led to resumption of lockdown in various states. The restrictions on on-premise establishments and consumer behavioural shifts impacted the balance between the on- and off-premise occasion in most markets.

Ambuja Cements added 1.48% to Rs 408.20. The cement maker posted a 59.5% rise in standalone net profit to Rs 723 crore on a 55.8% increase in net sales to Rs 3,342 crore in Q2 2021 over Q2 2020. The company's premium products volume grew at 69% compared to the same period last year.

Total operating cost per ton saw a marginal decline, despite continuous headwinds faced on account of rising input costs. The operational efficiency programs in the plants along with logistics efficiencies partly mitigated the impact. Total operating cost spiked by 52.4% to Rs 2,411 crore in Q2 June 2021 over Q2 June 2020.

Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) added 3.07% to Rs 1695. The exchange's consolidated net profit tanked 29.5% to Rs 39.80 crore on 20% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 87.60 crore in Q1 June 2021 over Q1 June 2020.

ICICI Bank rose 0.12% to Rs 677.45. The private bank's standalone net profit jumped 77.59% to Rs 4,616.02 crore on 6.47% fall in total income to Rs 24,379.27 crore in Q1 June 2021 over Q1 June 2020. Operating profit dropped 17.46% to Rs 8,894.40 crore in Q1 FY22 as against Rs 10,776.45 crore in Q1 FY21.

On the asset quality front, the ratio of gross NPAs to gross advances stood at 5.15% as on 30 June 2021 as against 5.46% as on 30 June 2020. The ratio of net NPAs to net advances stood at 1.16% as on 30 June 2021 as against 1.23% as on 30 June 2020.

Provision and Contingencies tumbled 62.44% to Rs 2,851.69 crore in Q1 June 2021 over Rs 7,593.95 crore in Q1 June 2020. Provision coverage ratio was robust stood at 78.20% at 30 June 2021, higher than 77.70% at 31 March 2021.

At 30 June 2021, the bank held COVID-19 related provisions of Rs 6,425 crore (i.e. $ 864 million). The bank's total capital adequacy at 30 June 2021 was 19.27% and Tier-1 capital adequacy (including profits for Q1 FY2022) stood at 18.24% compared to the minimum regulatory requirements of 11.08% and 9.08% respectively.

The Net Interest Income (NII) surged 17.84% to Rs 10,936 crore as on 30 June 2021 as against Rs 9,280 crore as on 30 June 2020. The Net Interest Margin (NIM) stood at 3.89% as on 30 June 2021 as against 3.69% as on 30 June 2020.

While total deposits rose 16% year-on-year to Rs 9,26,224 crore, total advances increased by 17% year-on-year to Rs 738,598 crore as on 30 June 2021.

SBI Cards and Payment Services (SBI Cards) advanced 6.27% to Rs 1017. The company posted a 22.6% fall in standalone net profit to Rs 304.61 crore on 11.6% rise in total income to Rs 2,450.94 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21. On a sequential basis, the company's net profit grew by 74% compared with Rs 175 crore posted in Q4 FY21.

Earnings before credit costs increased by 4% to Rs 1,056 crore in Q1 FY22 from Rs 1,014 crore in Q1 FY21. Meanwhile, the company's finance costs decreased by 16.6% to Rs 229 Cr in Q1 FY22 from Rs 275 crore in Q1 FY21. On the asset quality front, gross NPA were at 3.91% as of Q1 FY22 as compared to 1.35% in Q1 FY21. Net NPA were at 0.88% as of Q1 FY22 versus 0.43% in Q1 FY21.

SBI Card's total balance sheet size as of 30 June 2021 was at Rs 26,608 crore as against Rs 24,260 crore as of 30 June 2020. Total gross advances (Credit card receivables) as of 30 June 2021 were at Rs 24,438 crore, as against Rs 23,330 crore as of 30 June 2020.

Yes Bank rose 1.84% to Rs 13.31 after the bank's net profit soared 355.2% to Rs 206.84 crore in Q1 FY22 from Rs 45.44 crore posted in Q1 FY21. Total income declined 8.6% year on year (YoY) to Rs 5,581.84 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21. Standalone operating profit dropped 20% to Rs 920 crore in Q1 FY22 from Rs 1,147 crore in Q1 FY21.

On the asset quality front, the ratio of gross NPAs stood at 15.6% as on 30 June 2021 as against 15.41% as on 31 March 2021 and 17.30% as on 30 June 2020. The ratio of net NPAs stood at 5.78% as on 30 June 2021 as against 5.88% as on 31 March 2021 and 4.96% as on 30 June 2020.

Provision and Contingencies reduced by 41% to Rs 644 crore in Q1 FY22 over Rs 1,087 crore in Q1 FY21. Fresh slippages lower at Rs 2,233 crore compared to Rs 11,873 crore registered in last quarter, supported by provision write back due to recoveries / resolutions.

JSW Steel slipped 1.87% to Rs 704. The steel major's consolidated net profit stood at Rs 5,900 crore in Q1 June 2021 compared to a net loss of Rs 582 crore in Q1 June 2020. Consolidated net sales soared 148.2% to Rs 28,432 crore in Q1 FY22 as against Rs 11,454 crore in Q1 FY21.

Production of Crude Steel grew 39% to 4.10 million tonnes (MT) in Q1 FY22 as against 2.96 million tonnes (MT) in Q1 FY21. Total sales jumped 29% to 3.61 million tonnes (MT) as compared to 2.80 million tonnes (MT).

Global Markets:

European markets declined across the board on Monday, tracking lackluster global sentiment as investors monitored corporate earnings and looked ahead to a key meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve. Investors continue to monitor a surge in COVID-19 cases across the continent driven by the highly-transmissible delta variant, which has led several countries to re-impose social restrictions.

Most Asian stocks ended lower today as Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong plunged. China's antitrust regulator ordered Tencent to give up its exclusive music licensing rights and slapped a fine on it for anti-competitive behavior, marking yet another development in Beijing's ongoing crackdown on its domestic internet titans.

Investors likely continued to monitor the COVID-19 situation in Asia as it weighs on sentiment. In South Korea, the second highest level of virus restrictions will be reportedly applied to non-capital areas starting Tuesday. Indonesia on Sunday also reportedly extended its COVID-19 restrictions by a week.

U.S. equities rose Friday with the major averages hitting new records as they overcame concerns about economic growth from earlier in the week. The Dow closed above 35,000 for the first time ever. The blue-chip average rose 238.20 points, or 0.68%, to 35,061.55. The S&P 500 gained 1.01% to 4,411.79 and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.04% to 14,836.99, both new closing highs for the benchmarks.

As per the provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 138.59 points or 0.26% at 52,975.76. The Nifty 50 index closed 32 points or 0.2% higher at 15,856.45.

In broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.07% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.11%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1575 shares rose and 1670 shares fell. A total of 124 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 247.59 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 942.55 crore in the Indian equity market on 22 July 2021, provisional data showed.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 19,25,78,206 with 41,35,859 deaths. India reported 4,05,513 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,19,470 deaths while 3,04,68,079 patient have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Supreme Court AGR Verdict:

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea of telecom companies for correction of alleged errors in adjusted gross revenue (AGR) calculation. The top court had in September last year granted telecom companies a period of 10 years to clear their pending AGR dues to the central government with 10% payment every year. The deadline given to the company for first instalment was 31 March 2021.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted telecom companies 10 years to clear AGR (adjusted gross revenue) dues of around Rs 1.43 lakh crore to the Centre, providing much needed relief to some of the telcos which could have faced the prospect of winding up their operations for being unable to pay the entire amount at one go.

The matter came back to the court after the telcos didn't submit the amount disputing the calculation done by the department of telecom (DoT) and claiming that they have already submitted more than 10% of the amount.

The total liability on Vodafone-Idea is Rs 58,254 crore, while Bharti Airtel has to pay Rs 43,980 crore and Tata Teleservices owes Rs 16,798 crore to the government.

Bharti Airtel (up 0.09%), Vodafone Idea (down 9.62%) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (down 5%).

Nifty Result Today:

Index major Reliance Industries (down 0.66%) will announce its quarterly result today.

New Listing:

Shares of Zomato were currently trading at Rs 125.15 on the BSE, a premium of 64.67% as compared with the issue price of Rs 76 per share. The scrip listed at a price of Rs 115 apiece, at a premium of 51.32% to the issue price. So far, the scrip has hit a high of Rs 138 and a low of Rs 114 in trade today. Over 450.33 lakh shares of the company were traded in the counter till now.

The initial public offer of online food delivery platform Zomato received bids for 2,751.27 crore shares as against 71.92 crore shares on offer, according to stock exchange data. The issue was subscribed 38.25 times. The issue opened for bidding on Wednesday (14 July 2021) and closed on Friday (16 July 2021).

Earnings Impact:

IndiaMART InterMESH gained 3.39% after the B2B company's consolidated net profit jumped 18.62% to Rs 87.90 crore on a 18.61% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 181.60 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21. Total revenue grew due to improvement in realization from existing customers and increase in number of paying subscription suppliers. The consolidated deferred revenue increased to Rs 715 crore in Q1 FY22 from Rs 628 crore in Q1 FY21. Consolidated EBITDA grew 21% to Rs 89 crore in Q1 FY22 as against Rs 73 crore in Q1 FY21. EBITDA margin improved to 49% during the quarter as compared to 48% during Q1 FY21. Profit margin stood at 42% in Q1 FY22 over 40% in Q1 FY21.

Indian Energy Exchange fell 0.29%. The company recorded a 49.3% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 62.82 crore on a 34.1% rise in net sales to Rs 91.03 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21. On a sequential basis, net profit increased by 2.11% while net sales declined nearly 3% in Q1 FY22 over Q4 FY21. On the operational front, electricity volume increased by 42.9% to 21,266 million units (MU) in Q1 FY22 as against 14,878 MU recorded in the same period last year. IEX said the growth in electricity volume was largely driven by competitive power prices on the exchange, growing electricity consumption, and vibrant performance of new market segments.

Mphasis surged 4.98% after the IT firm reported a 7.17% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 339.68 crore in Q1 FY22 over Rs 316.93 crore in Q4 FY21. Consolidated revenue from operations grew 6.59% to Rs 2,690.83 crore in Q1 June 2021 from Rs 2,524.28 crore in Q4 March 2021. In constant currency, growth was 5.9% QoQ and 16.3% YoY. Profit before tax climbed 8.12% to Rs 458.05 crore in Q1 FY22 as against Rs 423.62 crore in Q4 FY21.

Persistent Systems jumped 6.38% after the IT firm reported a 9.79% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 151.24 crore in Q1 June 2021 (Q1 FY22) over Rs 137.75 crore in Q4 March 2021 (Q4 FY21). Consolidated revenue from operations grew 10.47% to Rs 1,229.92 crore in Q1 June 2021 from Rs 1,113.35 crore in Q4 March 2021. Profit before tax climbed 9.83% to Rs 203.05 crore in Q1 FY22 as against Rs 184.87 crore in Q4 FY21. The Q1 result was declared post market hours yesterday, 22 July 2021. Consolidated EBITDA soared 7% Q-o-Q (quarter-on-quarter) and 37.6% Y-o-Y (year-on-year) to Rs 201.52 crore, with margins at 16.4% during the quarter. The order booking for the quarter ended on 30 June 2021 stood at $244.8 million in Total Contract Value (TCV) and at $188.83 million in Annual Contract Value (ACV).

Can Fin Homes fell 2.13%. The housing finance company posted a 16.84% jump in standalone net profit to Rs 108.84 crore on a 13.71% rise in total income from operations to Rs 450.84 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21 Standalone profit before tax climbed 15.83% to Rs 146 crore in Q1 FY22 as against Rs 126.04 crore in Q1 FY21. New Approvals surged 214.01% to Rs 829 crore in Q1 FY22 as against Rs 264 crore in Q1 FY21. Disbursements soared 122.94% to Rs 894 crore in Q1 FY22 as against Rs 401 crore in Q1 FY21. Outstanding loan book rose 6.61% to Rs 22,221 crore in Q1 FY22 as against Rs 20,843 crore in Q1 FY21.

Biocon fell 1.44% after the company's consolidated net profit declined 43.5% to Rs 84.4 crore in Q1 FY22 from Rs 149 crore in Q1 FY21. Revenue from operations increased by 4% YoY to Rs 1,761 crore in Q1 FY22 from Rs 1693.8 crore in Q1 FY21. As compared to Q4 FY21, the company's net profit and revenue from operations have declined by 67% and 4%, respectively. On the segmental front, revenue from Generics was Rs 486 crore (down 22% YoY), revenue from Biosimilars was Rs 758 crore (up 10% YoY) and revenue from research services was Rs 595 crore (up 41% YoY) in the first quarter. The Novel Biologics segment recorded revenue of Rs 11 crore during the period under review.

Federal Bank rose 1.48%. The private sector bank reported 23% fall in net profit to Rs 367 crore on a 5% increase in total income 4,006 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21. Net interest income (NII) remained flat at Rs 1,418 crore in the first quarter as compared with Rs 1,420 crore in the same period last year. Net interest margin (NIM) was at 3.15% as on 30 June 2021 as against 3.23% as on 30 June 2020. Operating profit jumped 28% to Rs 1,135 crore in Q1 FY22 from Rs 885 crore in Q1 FY21. Total provisions increased by 89% to Rs 768 crore in Q1 FY22 from Rs 407 crore in Q1 FY21. The bank's gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at Rs 4,649.33 crore as on 30 June 2021 as against Rs 4,602.39 crore as on 31 March 2021 and Rs 3,655.59 crore as on 30 June 2020.

Global Markets:

European markets were trading higher while Asian stocks were mixed on Friday as investors monitored Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong after regulatory concerns resurfaced. Markets in Japan were closed on Friday for a holiday.

As per reports, Beijing is considering harsh penalties on ride-hailing giant Didi. The penalties being planned range from a fine likely bigger than the record $2.8 billion Alibaba paid earlier this year to even a forced delisting after Didi's IPO last month.

Tech shares led U.S. stocks higher Thursday, despite an unexpected jump in jobless claims that resurfaced some concerns about the economy and sent bond yields lower. Investors jumped back into their favorite tech stocks as optimism about the sector grows ahead of big earnings reports next week for some of the largest names in the space.

Jobless claims in the US unexpectedly rose to 419,000, more than the upwardly revised 368,000 from the previous period.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank on Thursday said interest rates would stay at their current record low levels until it sees inflation durably reaching the bank's new target of 2%. The 25-member governing council expects the key ECB interest rates to remain at their present or lower levels until it sees inflation reaching 2% well ahead of the end of its projection horizon and durably for the rest of the projection horizon, the bank said in a statement, adding that this may also imply a transitory period in which inflation is moderately above target.

As per the provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, soared 638.7 points or 1.22% at 52,837.25. The Nifty 50 index added 197.45 points or 1.26% at 15,829.20.

The buying demand was broad based. The Nifty Midcap 50 surged 1.13% while the Nifty Smallcap index rallied 1.36%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 2,168 shares rose and 1065 shares fell. A total of 129 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 19,20,08,050 with 41,27,109 deaths. India reported 4,09,394 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,18,987 deaths while 3,04,29,339 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Single day rise of 41,383 COVID-19 infections, 507 fatalities push India's tally of cases to 3,12,57,720, death toll to 4,18,987, says heath ministry.

Economy:

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has downgraded India's economic growth forecast for the current financial year to 10% on Tuesday, from 11% projected earlier this year, mainly on account of the adverse impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

India's GDP growth recovered to 1.6% in the last quarter of fiscal year ended March 2021, narrowing contraction in the whole fiscal year from 8% estimated in April to a revised 7.3%, the multilateral funding agency said in the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) Supplement.

Earning Impact:

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) fell 2.34%. The FMCG major reported 10% rise in standalone net profit to Rs 2,061 crore on 13% increase in sales to Rs 11,730 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21. HUL recorded a domestic consumer growth of 12% and a underlying volume growth of 9% in June quarter 2021. Performance was broad based with all three divisions growing competitively and in double-digits during the period under review.

Bajaj Auto declined 1.17%. The company's standalone net profit doubled to Rs 1,061 crore in Q1 FY22 from Rs 528 crore in Q1 FY21. Revenue from operations jumped 139.9% YoY to Rs 7,386 crore during the quarter. As compared to Q4 FY21, the company's net profit and revenue from operations have declined 20.3% and 14.1%, respectively. EBITDA was at Rs 1,153 crore in Q1 FY22 as against Rs 441 crore in Q1 FY21 and Rs 1,558 crore in Q4 FY21. EBITDA margin was at 15.6% as on 30 June 2021 compared with 14.3 as on 30 June 2020. EBITDA margin was at 18.1% as on 31 March 2021. Bajaj Auto said that the decline in EBITDA margin was due lower revenue from operations which resulted in loss on spread of fixed costs by approximately 160 bps and increase in cost of raw-material, net of increase in prices, resulted in lower EBITDA margin by approximately 220 bps. Higher raw material costs were, however, partially off-set from higher US$ realization and improved mix. As on 30th June 2021, surplus cash and cash equivalents stood at Rs 19,097 crore as against Rs 17,689 crore as on 31 March 2021.

Ultratech Cement rose 0.74%. The cement maker reported 114% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,703 crore in Q1 FY22 from Rs 794 crore in Q1 FY21. Revenues (net of taxes) rose by 54% YoY to Rs 11,698 crore during the quarter. EBITDA increased by 49% to Rs 3,512 crore in Q1 FY22 from Rs 2,357 crore in Q1 FY21. EBITDA margin was at 30% as on 30 June 2021 as against 31% as on 30 June 2020. Profit before tax in Q1 FY22 stood at Rs 2,526 crore, up by 93% from Rs 1,311 crore in Q1 FY21. Production costs during the quarter increased 11% YoY, mainly on account of higher fuel prices. The company continues to maintain a tight control on costs and cash flow with focus on operational efficiencies. This has enabled UltraTech to achieve an effective capacity utilization of 73% during the quarter as against 46% in Q1 FY21.

Gland Pharma soared 9.32% after the company's net profit jumped 11.81% to Rs 350.65 crore on 30.50% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 1,153.90 crore in Q1 June 2021 (Q1 FY22) over Q1 June 2020 (Q1 FY21). The growth in revenue was contributed from a mix of launch of new products and volume growth in existing products. The key markets, US, Canada, Europe and Australia registered a growth of 16% and accounted for 61% of the revenue during Q1 FY22. This performance is driven by growth of key products like Micafungin, Enoxaparin, Heparin, Dexmedetomidine and new product launches. Profit before tax surged 12.34% to Rs 471.84 crore in Q1 FY22 as against Rs 420 crore in Q1 FY21.

Havells India advanced 4.21% after the company's standalone net profit surged 269.9% to Rs 234.30 crore on 75.7% increase in net sales to Rs 2,598.20 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21. As compared to Q4 FY21, the company's net profit and net sales have declined by 22.5% and 22%, respectively. Profit before tax in Q1 FY22 stood at Rs 314.77 crore, up by 266.2% from Rs 85.95 crore in Q1 FY21. EBIDTA improved by 169% to Rs 353 crore in Q1 FY22 compared with Rs 131 crore in Q1 FY21. EBIDTA margin was at 13.6% as on 30 June 2021 as against 8.8% as on 30 June 2020.

CRISIL jumped 4.31%. The credit rating agency recorded 51.9% increase in net profit to Rs 100.8 crore on 12% rise in income from operations to Rs 528.51 crore in Q2 June 2021 over Q2 June 2020. The board of CRISIL has approved the payment of interim dividend of Rs 8 per equity share for the financial year ending 31 December 2021, which will be paid on 18 August 2021.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia advanced on Thursday after solid company earnings boosted Wall Street, easing concerns about peak economic growth and coronavirus flareups. Markets in Japan were closed on Thursday for a holiday.

Investors in Europe are awaiting the latest monetary policy announcement from the European Central Bank on Thursday.

Wall Street stocks posted their second straight daily gain on Wednesday, with robust corporate earnings and renewed optimism about the U.S. economic recovery fueling a risk-on rally.

As per the provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, dropped 365.36 points or 0.7% at 52,188.09. The Nifty 50 index slipped 120.3 points or 0.76% at 15,632.95.

ICICI Bank (down 2.14%), HDFC Bank (down 1.83%) and HDFC (down 0.98%) were major drags.

The broader indices traded lower. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index lost 1.28% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index skid 1.44%.

Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 1,138 shares rose and 2,096 shares fell. A total of 109 shares were unchanged.

The domestic equity market will remain shut on Wednesday, 21 July 2021, on account of Bakri Id.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 19,09,23,535 with 40,96,272 deaths. India reported 4,06,130 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,14,482 deaths while 3,03,53,710 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

In the past 24 hours, India recorded 30,093 new cases in the last 24 hours - the lowest in 125 days, as per Health Ministry's recent data.

Earnings Impact:

Asian Paints surged 5.59% after the company's net profit increased 160.2% to Rs 568.50 crore in Q1 FY22 as against Rs 218.45 crore in Q1 FY21. Revenue from operations during the quarter has increased by 91.1% to Rs 5,585.36 crore compared with Rs 2,922.66 crore recorded in the same period last year. As compared to Q4 FY21, the company's net profit and revenues have declined by 33.3% and 16%, respectively. Profit before depreciation, interest, tax and other income (PBDIT) for the group (before share in profit of associates) increased by 88.7% to Rs 913.56 crore in Q1 FY22 from Rs 484.25 crore in Q1 FY21.

HCL Technologies skid 2.28%. On a consolidated basis, the IT firm's net profit jumped 8.5% to Rs 3,214 crore on 2.2% increase in revenues to Rs 20,068 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q4 FY21. On a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) basis, the company's consolidated net profit surged 9.9% while revenue from operations soared 12.5% in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21. EBITDA stood at Rs 4,908 crore in Q1 FY22, falling 3.7% over Q4 FY21 and rising 7.5% over Q1 FY21. During the quarter ended June 2021, EBITDA margin stood at 24.5% while EBIT margin was at 19.6%. In dollar terms, revenue stood at $2,720 million, up 0.9% Q-o-Q and up 15.5% Y-o-Y. Revenue in constant currency terms rose 0.7% Q-o-Q and up 11.7% Y-o-Y. In its guidance, the company said its revenue is expected to grow in double digits in constant currency for FY22. EBIT margin is expected to be between 19.0% and 21.0% for FY22.

Mastek gained 0.84%. The company's consolidated net profit rose 6% to Rs 80.20 crore on 6.9% increase in total revenue from operations to Rs 516.50 crore in Q1 June 2021 (Q1 FY22) over Q4 March 2021 (Q4 FY21). Consolidated total EBITDA grew 7.6% to Rs 117.50 crore in Q1 FY22 as against Rs 109.20 crore in Q4 FY21. EBITDA margin improved to 22.5% during the quarter compared with 22.4% during Q4 March 2021. In constant currency, revenue from operations rose 4.3% Q-o-Q (quarter-on-quarter) and 27.2% Y-o-Y (year-on-year) to $70.2 million in Q1 FY22. Mastek added 40 new clients in Q1 FY22. The total client count as of 30 June 2021 stood at 651 (LTM) as compared to 639 (LTM) in Q4 FY21.

Newgen Software Technologies hit a lower circuit of 5% at Rs 662.60 after the company's' consolidated net profit declined 59% to Rs 216 crore on 20.2% decline in revenue from operations to Rs 1,595 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q4 FY21. Annuity revenues (ATS/AMC, Support, and SaaS) were at Rs 104.8 crore (up 2.9% QoQ) while subscription revenues (ATS/AMC and SaaS) were at Rs 53.7 crore (up 2.7% QoQ) in Q1 FY21. Revenue from sale of products/license were at Rs 27.9 crore (down 40.6% QoQ) in the first quarter. Implementation & digitization revenues were at Rs 26.8 crore (down 47.7% QoQ) in Q1 FY21. EBITDA declined by 65.7% to Rs 228 crore in Q1 FY22 from Rs 664 crore in Q4 FY21.

Nippon Life India Asset Management rose 2.14% to Rs 413.75 after the company's consolidated net profit increased 16.1% to Rs 181.54 crore on 9.8% rise in total income to Rs 369.18 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21. For the quarter ended 30 June 2021, NIMF's overall AUM market share rose to 7.25%, an increase of 13 bps as against the quarter ended 31 March 2021. The company's overall AUM market share was 7.3% in the Q1 quarter last year.

Global Markets:

European shares were trading higher while Asian shares declined across the board on Tuesday, following an overnight tumble for stocks on Wall Street and concerns about the spread of the delta coronavirus variant. Markets in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore are closed on Tuesday for holidays.

On Tuesday, China kept unchanged its benchmark lending rate for corporate and household loans - the one-year Loan Prime Rate (LPR) held steady at 3.85% while the five-year LPR was also left at 4.65%.

Geopolitical jitters also resurfaced on Monday after the U.S., the U.K. and their allies said the Chinese government has been the mastermind behind a series of malicious ransomware, data theft and cyber-espionage attacks against public and private entities - including the sprawling Microsoft Exchange hack earlier this year.

U.S. stocks dropped sharply on Monday on concern a rebound in COVID-19 cases would slow global economic growth. COVID-19 cases have rebounded in the U.S. this month, with the delta variant spreading among the unvaccinated. Cases were already flaring up around the world because of the delta variant.

As per the provisional closing data, the S&P BSE Sensex, dropped 586.66 points or 1.1% at 52,553.14. The Nifty 50 index slipped 171.90 points or 1.07% at 15,752.50.

Selling was broad based. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index lost 0.58% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index skid 0.31%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1,772 shares rose and 1,550 shares fell. A total of 170 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 466.30 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 666.07 crore in the Indian equity market on 16 July 2021, provisional data showed.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 19,04,27,673 with 40,89,053 deaths. India reported 4,21,665 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,14,108 deaths while 3,03,08,456 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

India on Monday, 19 July 2021 reported 38,164 new COVID-19 cases and 499 deaths, as per health ministry's updated data. The active cases in the country now stand at 4,21,665.

Economy:

Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian reportedly said on Friday that the country's economy will start witnessing a growth of 6.5% to 7% from fiscal 2023 onwards, helped by various reforms undertaken by the government so far and also as COVID-19 vaccination drive progresses. Mr. Subramanian expects the impact of the second wave not to be very significant.

Monsoon Session of Parliament:

Both the Houses of the Parliament were adjourned on Monday following protests by the Opposition parties. The uproar happened when Prime Minister Modi was introducing the new ministers. Raising an objection to this, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, Congress's behaviour in Lok Sabha is sad, unfortunate and unhealthy.

The monsoon session of the Parliament began today (19 July) and it will conclude on 13 August 2021. The government has listed 17 new bills for introduction in the session. Apart from the new bills, the legislations to be introduced in Lok Sabha include three bills to replace existing ordinances.

The government and the opposition are likely to discuss raging issues of the COVID-19 pandemic, farmers' protest, fuel prices hike and vaccination strategy.

The Parliament session comes a day after a global collaborative investigative project has revealed that Israeli company NSO Group's Pegasus spyware targeted over 300 mobile phone numbers in India including that of two serving Ministers in the Narendra Modi government, three Opposition leaders, one constitutional authority, several journalists and business persons.

New Listings:

Shares of Clean Science and Technology were currently trading at Rs 1585.85 per share, at a premium of 76.21% compared with the issue price of Rs 900 per share. The scrip was listed at a price of Rs 1784.40 per share, at a premium of 98.27% to the initial public offer (IPO) price. On the BSE, 10.62 lakh shares of the company were traded in the counter. The IPO of Clean Science and Technology received bids for 114.92 crore shares as against 1.23 crore shares on offer. The issue was subscribed 93.41 times. The issue opened for bidding on Wednesday, 7 July 2021, and closed on Friday, 9 July 2021. The price band for the IPO was set at Rs 880-900 per share.

Shares of G R Infraprojects were currently trading at Rs 1747.20, at a premium of 108% compared with the issue price of Rs 837 per share. The scrip was listed at Rs 1700 per share, at a premium of 103.11% to the initial public offer (IPO) price. On the BSE, over 7.54 lakh shares of the company were traded in the counter. The IPO of G R Infraprojects received bids for 83.33 crore shares as against 81.23 lakh shares on offer. The issue was subscribed 102.58 times. The issue opened for bidding on Wednesday, 7 July 2021, and closed on Friday, 9 July 2021. The price band for the IPO was set at Rs 828-837 per share.

Stocks in Spotlight:

HDFC Bank slipped 2.26%. India's largest private sector bank reported 16.08% rise in standalone net profit to Rs 7,729.64 crore on 6.73% increase in total income to Rs 36,771.47 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21. Net interest income (interest earned less interest expended) for the quarter ended 30 June 2021 grew to Rs 17,009 crore from Rs 15,665.40 crore for the quarter ended 30 June 2020, driven by advances growth of 14.4%, and a core net interest margin of 4.1%. Pre-provision Operating Profit (PPOP) at Rs 15,137.0 crore grew by 18% over the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Provisions and contingencies for the quarter ended 30 June 2021 rose by 24.14% to Rs 4,830.8 crore (consisting of specific loan loss provisions of Rs 4,219.7 crore and general and other provisions of Rs 611.1 crore) as against Rs 3,891.5 crore (consisting of specific loan loss provisions of Rs 2,739.8 crore and general and other provisions of Rs 1,151.7 crore) for the quarter ended 30 June 2020. Total provisions for the current quarter included contingent provisions of approximately Rs 600 crore.

Just Dial fell 5% after Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL) announced an open offer to acquire 26% stake in the company at Rs 1,022.25 per share.

RRVL announced an open offer for acquisition of up to 2,17,36,894 equity shares of Just Dial (representing 26% stake) for a cash consideration of Rs 2,222.05 crore. The shares in the open offer are being acquired at a price of Rs 1,022.25 apiece, at 4.76% discount to the scrip's closing price of Rs 1073.30 on Friday (16 July 2021).

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) fell 0.61%. L&T Construction, the construction arm of Larsen & Toubro (L&T), has won a slew of significant orders in India and abroad for its various businesses. The power transmission & distribution business has won an order to construct a 220kV transmission line associated with system strengthening in the Ladakh region. The design and execution of this system involves traversing avalanche prone, hilly terrains and ice loading of conductors. Another turnkey order has been received for urban power distribution in Ayodhya city under the Integrated Power Development Scheme.

Suryoday Small Finance Bank gained 2.7% after the small finance bank said its gross advances (provisional) grew 16% year-on-year to Rs 4,082 crore in Q1 FY22 as against Rs 3,534 crore in Q1 FY21. On a sequential basis, the gross advances fell 2% last quarter as against Rs 4,186 crore in Q4 FY21. Total deposits grew 16% year-on-year and 2% quarter-on-quarter to Rs 3,317 crore in Q1 FY22. Disbursements surged 2844% to Rs 361 crore in Q1 FY22 compared with Rs 12 crore in Q1 FY21. It, however, declined 66% last quarter from Rs 1,059 crore in Q4 FY21. Meanwhile, the bank's CASA improved to 16.2% in Q1 FY22 from 15.4% in Q4 FY21 and 11.9% in Q1 FY21.

Global Markets:

The US Dow Jones futures were down 305 points, indicating a weak opening in the US market today.

Shares in Europe and Asia tumbled on Monday as markets digested the latest OPEC+ announcement regarding oil production, and continued to brood on inflation and rising Covid-19 cases.

OPEC and its allies reached a deal on Sunday to phase out 5.8 million barrels per day of oil production cuts by September 2022. Coordinated increases in oil supply from the group - collectively known as OPEC+ will start in August, OPEC said in a statement. The development came as Brent surged more than 40% so far in 2021, with demand for crude rising as the global economy recovers from the pandemic.

U.S. stocks fell on Friday weighed down by declines in Amazon, Apple and other heavyweight technology stocks, while investors worried about a rise in coronavirus cases tied to the highly contagious Delta variant.

A preliminary reading of the University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment fell to 80.8 in July from a final reading of 85.5 in June, notching the measure's lowest level since February.

Separately, the US Commerce Department released a report showing retail sales climbed by 0.6% in June after plunging by a revised 1.7% in May. Excluding a steep drop in sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales jumped by an even stronger 1.3% in June following a revised 0.9% decrease in May.

The key equity indices ended almost flat on Friday. The Nifty managed to float above the 15,900 mark. Pharma and realty shares were in demand while IT and banks shares corrected.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slipped 18.79 points or 0.04% to 53,140.06. The Nifty 50 index lost 0.80 points or 0.01% to 15,923.40.

The broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.45%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.38%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1786 shares rose and 1413 shares fell. A total of 150 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 18,89,28,123 with 40,66,605 deaths. India reported 4,30,422 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,12,531 deaths while 3,01,83,876 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

India reported 38,949 cases, 542 deaths in last 24 hours. The recovery rate has increased to 97.28% while active cases now constitute 1.39% of total cases.

Economy:

India's overall exports in June 2021 are estimated to be $49.85 billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 31.87% over the same period last year. Overall imports in June this year are estimated to be $52.18 billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 73.65% over the same period last year.

India's overall exports in April to June this year are estimated to be $147.64 billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 50.24% over the same period last year. Overall imports in April to June this year are estimated to be $156.58 billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 80.75% over the same period last year.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Realty index rose 1.93% to 400.65. The index has added 6.22% in two sessions.

Prestige Estates (up 3.41%), DLF (up 2.29%), Indiabulls Real Estate (up 1.77%), The Phoenix Mills (up 1.71%) and Godrej Properties (up 1.28%) advanced.

Sobha Developers (down 3.13%), Sunteck Realty (down 1.89%), Brigade Enterprises (down 1.83%) and Oberoi Realty (down 1.45%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Wipro gained 0.30% to Rs 577.45. The IT major reported a 9.20% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 3,248 crore in Q1 June 2021 (Q1 FY22) as against Rs 2,974.30 crore in Q4 March 2021 (Q4 FY21). Consolidated revenues grew 12.35% to Rs 18,252.40 crore in Q1 June 2021 compared with Rs 16,245.40 crore in Q4 March 2021. Profit before tax advanced 3.29% to Rs 3,873.30 crore in Q1 FY22 as against Rs 3,749.90 crore in Q4 FY21. The numbers are based on Indian accounting standards (IND AS).

As per International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the IT major's consolidated net income for Q1 June 2021 was Rs 3,232.10 crore, an increase of 8.7% quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) and 35.2% year-on-year (Y-o-Y). Gross consolidated revenue was Rs 18,252.40 crore in Q1 June 2021, an increase of 12.4% Q-o-Q and 22.4% Y-o-Y.

Larsen & Toubro Infotech (LTI) declined 2.80% to Rs 4293.65. The IT firm reported a 8.96% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 496.80 crore in Q1 June 2021 (Q1 FY22) as against Rs 545.70 crore in Q4 March 2021 (Q4 FY21). Consolidated revenues grew 5.91% to Rs 3,462.50 crore in Q1 June 2021 compared with Rs 3,269.40 crore in Q4 March 2021.

Tata Elxsi slumped 4.26% to Rs 4296. The company's net profit soared 64.63% to Rs 113.38 crore on 39.41% surge in revenue from operations to Rs 558.32 crore in Q1 June 2021 over Q1 June 2020. On a sequential basis, net profit fell 1.55% while revenue from operations increased 7.70% in Q1 June 2021 over Q4 March 2021.

The company's growth was driven by both its key businesses, with Embedded Product Design (EPD), the company's largest division growing by 7.5% Q-o-Q (quarter-on-quarter) and 31.4% Y-o-Y (year-on-year) and Industrial Design & Visualization (IDV) posting a smart growth of 13.9% Q-o-Q and 132.1% Y-o-Y.

The growth was led by Americas with 17.5% Q-o-Q and 69.3% Y-o-Y growth. Europe grew by 5.4% Q-o-Q and 30.1% Y-o-Y. India grew by 2.8% Q-o-Q and 47.6% Y-o-Y.

Angel Broking hit an upper circuit of 20% at Rs 1274.45. The stock broker recorded a 19% increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 121.37 crore on 13.23% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 462.67 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q4 FY21. The stock broker's consolidated net profit increased 156.6% while revenue from operations jumped 94% in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21.

Total income stood at Rs 474.5 crore in Q1 FY22 as against Rs 418.9 crore in Q4 FY21, a growth of 13% QoQ. The company said income growth was aided by strong growth in client base and high client activity.

Sona BLW Precision Forgings added 1.45% to Rs 400.10. The company said that it has joined hands with Israel's IRP Nexus Group (IRP) to create a revolutionary magnet-less e-motor technology for the global electric vehicles market. Under the agreement, IRP will license its technology to Sona Comstar for manufacturing of the system exclusively in India, expecting to start mass production in 2023.

Bandhan Bank fell 3.14% to Rs 309.55. The bank's total deposits have increased by 28% to Rs 60,610 crore, loans & advances have risen by 8% to Rs 74,331 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21. Sequentially, the bank's total deposits and advances have, however, declined by 1% and 8%, respectively. The bank's collection efficiency for the month of June 2021 was approximately 80%. Liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) as on June 30, 2021 at approximately 138%.

Tata Steel Long Products shed 0.77% at Rs 1110. On a consolidated basis, Tata Steel Long Products posted a 2.4% decline in net profit to Rs 331.6 crore on 9% rise in net sales to Rs 1687.64 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q4 FY21. The steel maker posted a net loss of Rs 131.3 crore in Q1 FY21. Net sales soared 158% in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21.

Cyient jumped 11.67% to Rs 1058. The IT firm reported a 11.54% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 115 crore in Q1 June 2021 as against Rs 103.10 crore in Q4 March 2021. Revenues declined 3.19% to Rs 1,058.20 crore in Q1 June 2021 compared with Rs 1,093.10 crore in Q4 March 2021. The company's consolidated net profit soared 41.3% while net sales advanced 6.7% in Q1 June 2021 over Q1 June 2020.

Xelpmoc Design and Tech gained 2.63% to Rs 455.85. The company said that its board has approved raising of funds by issuing up to 7,20,000 equity shares of the company at an issue price of Rs 375 per share aggregating upto Rs 27 crore on a preferential allotment basis. The equity shares are proposed to be allotted to Newport Asia Advisors Fund, Newport Asia Growth & Income Fund, Newport Asia Institutional Fund and Newport Asia Partners Fund.

JMC Projects advanced 2.67% to Rs 122.90. The EPC company said it has secured new orders worth Rs 1,624 crore. The company received orders of Rs 496 crore in Q1 FY22 and Rs 1,128 crores in Q2 FY22 till date. The orders consist of road project in Ghana worth Rs 1,128 crore and building project order worth Rs 496 crore in India.

Global Markets:

Most European shares declined while Asian stocks ended mixed on Friday as concerns about the economic growth outlook came to the fore.

The Bank of Japan held steady on monetary policy. Japan's central bank downgraded its real GDP forecast for 2021 to 3.8% growth, as compared with the 4% growth forecast made in April 2021. The Bank of Japan also kept its yield curve control target at -0.1% for short-term interest rates and 0% for 10-year Japanese government bond yields. Yield curve control is a policy to stimulate the country's economy, and entails keeping the 10-year Japanese government bond yield at zero.

US stocks indexes fell on Thursday as energy and technology stocks declined. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday maintained the central bank will continue to evaluate the economic recovery before changing its accommodating monetary policies. The Fed chair spoke before the Senate banking panel in a second day of testimony before Congress.

Meanwhile, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) stuck to its forecast for a strong recovery in world oil demand in the rest of 2021 and predicted oil use would rise further in 2022 similar to pre-pandemic rates, led by growth in China and India.

In 2022, healthy expectations for global economic growth in addition to improved containment of COVID-19 through the acceleration of vaccination programmes, effective treatment and natural immunisation, particularly in emerging and developing countries, along with frequent testing procedures, are assumed to spur consumption of oil next year to comparable pre-pandemic levels, OPEC said in the report.

The key equity indices ended with strong gains on Thursday. The Nifty closed above the 15,900 mark. IT shares were in demand.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 254.80 points or 0.48% to 53,158.85. The Nifty 50 index added 70.25 points or 0.44% to 15,924.20.

The Nifty hit a record high of 15,952.35 and the Sensex hit a record high of 53,266.12 in mid afternoon trade.

The broader market, however, underperformed the benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.31%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.43%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1665 shares rose and 1569 shares fell. A total of 132 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 18,83,65,518 with 40,58,233 deaths. India reported 4,32,041 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,11,989 deaths while 3,01,43,850 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

India has reported 41,806 new COVID-19 cases, 39,130 recoveries and 581 deaths in the last 24 hours, the bulletin released by the Union health ministry on Thursday stated. Active caseload stands at 4,32,041 and the virus death toll at 4,11,989 at present.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index rose 1.30% to 29,720. The index has added 4.50% in two sessions.

HCL Tech (up 5.11%), Larsen & Toubro Infotech (up 4.24%), Tech Mahindra (up 2.89%), MindTree (up 1.07%), Coforge (up 0.84%) and Mphasis (up 0.31%) advanced.

Oracle Financial Services Software (down 0.18%) and TCS (down 0.37%) declined.

Among the mid-cap IT stocks, Happiest Minds Technologies (up 13.73%), Zensar Technologies (up 4.63%), Firstsource Solutions (up 4.34%), Tata Elxsi (up 3.24%), Persistent Systems (up 2.05%) and NIIT (up 0.87%) edged higher.

Wipro (up 2.90%) will announce its quarterly result today.

Infosys rose 0.13% to Rs 1579. The IT major's consolidated net profit grew 2.3% to Rs 5,195 crore on 6% increase in revenue to Rs 27,896 crore in Q1 June 2021 over Q4 March 2021. On a year-on-year basis, net profit rose 22.7% and revenue increased 17.9% in Q1 June 2021.

Operating profit stood at Rs 6,603 crore in Q1 June 2021, rising 2.5% quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) and increasing 23.1% year-on-year (Y-o-Y). Operating margin for the quarter was robust at 23.7%, an increase of 1% YoY and decline of 0.8% QoQ. Free Cash Flows (FCF) grew by 15.2% YoY to Rs 6,363 crore in Q1 FY22.

Revenues in constant currency (CC) terms grew by 16.9% YoY and 4.8% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ). Large deal flows remained strong with total contract value (TCV) of $2.6 billion in Q1 FY22. The company had 1,659 active clients as of 30 June 2021, compared with 1,626 as on 31 March 2021 and 1,458 as on 30 June 2020.

L&T Technology Services (LTTS) surged 19.24% to Rs 3470.05. The IT firm reported a 11.11% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 217 crore in Q1 June 2021 over Rs 195.30 crore in Q4 March 2021. Consolidated revenue from operations grew 5.40% to Rs 1,518.40 crore in Q1 June 2021 from Rs 1,440.50 crore in Q4 March 2021.

During the quarter, LTTS won six deals with total contract value (TCV) of $10 million plus, which includes two $25 million plus deals. Revenues from digital and leading-edge technologies stood at 54% during the quarter. At the end of the first quarter, the patents portfolio of LTTS stood at 719, out of which 531 are co-authored with its customers and the rest are filed by LTTS. At the end of Q1 FY22, LTTS' employee strength stood at 16,972.

Stocks in Spotlight:

5Paisa Capital hit a lower circuit of 5% to Rs 522.65. The stock broker posted a 156.23% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 7.20 crore on 44% rise in total income to Rs 60.91 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21. The company's net profit grew by 23% and total income rose 22% in Q1 FY22 over Q4 FY21. The company said it on-boarded more than 2,78,000 new clients during the quarter, taking the total number of registered customers to 16.3 lakhs.

Tinplate Company of India jumped 4.21% to Rs 248.85. The company posted a net profit of Rs 68.62 crore in Q1 FY22 compared with net loss of Rs 6.90 crore registered in Q1 FY21. Revenue from operations increased 128.42% to Rs 803.90 crore in Q1 FY22 compared with Rs 351.94 crore in Q1 FY21. Net profit surged 22.19% and net sales rose 15.70% in Q1 FY22 over Q4 FY22.

Hatsun Agro Product declined 1.19% to Rs 984.50. The company's standalone net profit rose 3.96% to Rs 58.33 crore on 20.75% increase in net sales to Rs 1,544.71 crore in Q1 June 2021 over Q1 June 2020.

The company's board has approved the proposal for raising of funds, through private placement of equity shares by way of Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP), not exceeding Rs 700 crore. It also approved increasing the borrowing limit to Rs 1,800 crore from the existing Rs 1,500 crore, subject to the approval of the members at their ensuing Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Dodla Dairy slipped 2.46% to Rs 605.50. On a consolidated basis, Dodla Dairy reported net profit of Rs 9.58 crore in Q4 FY21 compared with net loss of Rs 1.94 crore in Q4 FY20. Revenue from operations rose 0.58% to Rs 530.49 crore in Q4 FY21 as against Rs 527.42 crore in Q4 FY20.

SeQuent Scientific spurted 7.21% to Rs 287.10. The animal-based pharmaceutical major announced the European Union Good Manufacturing Practices (EUGMP) approval of its tablets dosage manufacturing line in Turkey. The approval was further complimented by the successful renewal of EUGMP license for 8 other manufacturing lines for various dosage forms.

Marico gained 0.13% to Rs 533.55. The company announced a strategic investment in Apcos Naturals with an acquisition of 60% equity stake for an undisclosed consideration. Apcos Naturals is into beauty & personal care segment under the brand name “Just Herbs” and is a full stack Direct to Consumer Ayurvedic beauty brand. The firm recorded a turnover of Rs 17.5 crore in FY2020-21.

Rattanindia Enterprises was locked in an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 50.30 after the company witnessed massive jump in electric bikes sales. The company said that it saw another round of massive electrifying sales with its electric bikes getting sold out within minutes of opening online sales. Previously Revolt had opened sales on 18 June with the company having to close the booking in 2 hours. This time the bookings were closed out within minutes of launching sales on Revolt website.

Spandana Sphoorty Financial rose 1.44% to Rs 699.50. The company said that CRISIL Ratings has assigned its 'CRISIL A/Stable' rating to the long-term bank facility of the company worth Rs 3500 crore.

Separately, Spandana Sphoorty said that its board will meet on Saturday, 17 July 2021, to consider and approve, the issue and offer of non-convertible debentures on a private placement basis.

Rossari Biotech added 0.91% to Rs 1175.65. The company said that ICRA had assigned a rating of '[ICRA]AA- (Stable)' on the fund-based working capital facilities and unallocated limit of the company cumulatively worth Rs 156.39 crore. The ratings agency has assigned '[ICRA]A1+' rating on the non-fund based limit of the company worth Rs 23.61 crore.

RBL Bank fell 1.83% to Rs 214.80. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed restrictions yesterday on Mastercard Asia/Pacific (Mastercard) from on-boarding new domestic customers (debit, credit or prepaid) onto its card network from 22 July 2021.

RBL Bank currently issues credit cards on the Mastercard network only. The debit and prepaid cards issued by the bank are already enabled on other payment networks in addition to the Mastercard network. As of date RBL Bank has approximately 3 million credit card customers and is the fifth largest credit card issuer in the country with approximately 5% market share.

Separately, RBL Bank has entered into an agreement with Visa Worldwide (Visa) yesterday to issue credit cards enabled on the Visa payment network. RBL Bank expects to start issuance of credit cards on the Visa payment network post the technology integration which is expected to take 8 to 10 weeks.

In the interim, RBL said its current run rate of approximately 100,000 new credit card issuances per month could potentially be impacted till such time that there is clarity from the regulator on issuing new credit cards on the Mastercard network or till the technical integration with Visa is complete.

Global Markets:

European shares declined while Asian stocks ended higher on Thursday.

China's GDP rose 7.9% year-on-year in the second quarter, official data showed Thursday. Meanwhile, the country's retail sales in June jumped 12.1% from a year earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. Chinese industrial output rose 8.3% year-on-year in June.

China's central bank partially rolled over maturing medium-term loans on Thursday, the same day when a cut in the banks' reserve requirements takes effect.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said in a statement it was keeping the rate on 100 billion yuan ($15.46 billion) worth of one-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) loans to some financial institutions steady at 2.95% from previous operations.

US stocks closed flat on Wednesday after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell soothed investor angst by saying a recent inflation spike will fade, helping lift the S&P 500 to a fresh intraday record.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank will maintain its easy monetary policies. Powell said in his semiannual testimony before the House Committee on Financial Services Wednesday that the central bank can wait before it starts to ease its bond purchases despite surging inflation readings. The Fed chair said he still expects inflation to moderate.

At our June meeting, the Committee discussed the economy's progress toward our goals since we adopted our asset purchase guidance last December. While reaching the standard of 'substantial further progress' is still a ways off, participants expect that progress will continue, Powell said.

The benchmark indices ended with decent gains on Wednesday. The Nifty closed above the 15,800 mark. IT shares rallied while banks and financials stocks declined.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 134.32 points or 0.25% to 52,904.05. The Nifty 50 index added 26.40 points or 0.17% to 15,838.75.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.21% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.24%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1791 shares rose and 1448 shares fell. A total of 139 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 18,77,98,855 with 40,48,942 deaths. India reported 4,29,946 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,11,408 deaths while 3,01,04,720 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

India reports 38,792 COVID-19 cases, deaths up by 624 in last 24 hours, said the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry data on Wednesday. A decrease of 2,832 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

Economy:

India's annual rate of inflation based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) stood at 12.07% in June 2021 (over June 2020) compared with (-)1.81% in June 2020 and 12.94% in May 2021.

The high rate of inflation in June 2021 is primarily due to low base effect and rise in prices of mineral oils viz. petrol, diesel (HSD), naphtha, ATF, furnace oil etc., and manufactured products like basic metal, food products, chemical products etc. compared with the corresponding month of the previous year.

Meanwhile, the S&P Global Ratings on Tuesday, 13 July 2021 affirmed India's sovereign rating at the lowest investment grade of 'BBB-' for the 14th year in a row with a stable outlook, and said that the country's strong external settings will act as a buffer against financial strains despite elevated government funding needs over the next 24 months. The sovereign credit ratings on India reflect the economy's above-average long-term real GDP growth, sound external profile, and evolving monetary settings, S&P Global Ratings stated.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index rose 3.22% to 29,354.15. the index had declined by 1.1% in the past three sessions.

Mphasis (up 8.48%), Wipro (up 7.11%), Coforge (up 4.99%), Larsen & Toubro Infotech (up 5.03%), Oracle (up 3.32%), Tech Mahindra (up 2.75%), HCL Tech (up 2.30%) and TCS (up 0.88%) advanced.

Infosys (up 2.33%) and L&T Technology Services (up 3.33%) will announce their quarterly earnings today.

Mindtree jumped 8.26% to Rs 2700.75. The IT company reported strong Q1 results after market hours Tuesday (13 July). The counter hit a record high of Rs 2,692.80 in intraday today. The stock has surged 179% from its 52-week low of Rs 963.30 hit on 15 July 2020.

The IT company reported an 8.2% increase in net profit to Rs 343.40 crore on an 8.6% rise in revenues to Rs 2,291.70 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q4 FY21. In dollar terms, the company posted 7.5% rise in consolidated net profit to $46.5 million on 7.7% increase in revenues to $310.5 million in Q1 FY22 over Q4 FY21.

EBITDA in Q1 FY22 rose 0.4% to Rs 464.50 crore as against Rs 462.60 crore posted in Q4 FY21. EBITDA margin was at 20.3% as on Q1 FY22 compared with 21.9% in Q4 FY21 and 18.2% in Q1 FY21.

In Q1 FY22, Mindtree reported highest ever order book of half-a-billion US dollars, registering a growth of 34.2% QoQ. The total active clients at the end of June 2021 stood at 260, down from 270 clients at the end of March 2021.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) rose 0.29% to Rs 120.60 while Gail (India) shed 0.50% to Rs 148.05. ONGC has signed a five-year gas sale and transportation agreement with Gail India for sale of 90% of its domestic gas produce at domestic price.

NBCC (India) shed 0.83% to Rs 54.05. The company has secured total business of Rs 206 crore in the month of June 2021.

Tata Metaliks jumped 4.01% to Rs 1250.20. The company's standalone net profit stood at Rs 94.72 crore in Q1 June 2021 (Q1 FY22) compared with net loss of Rs 12.36 crore in Q1 June 2020 (Q1 FY21). Revenue from operations surged 187.21% to Rs 602.97 crore in Q1 FY22 as against Rs 209.94 crore in Q1 FY21.

Hindustan Zinc added 0.28% to Rs 335.60. The company's mined metal production for Q1 FY22 was 221,000 tonnes, up 9% from 202,000 tonnes in Q1 FY21. The increased production was mainly on account of higher ore production largely at Rampura Agucha mines (RAM) and Zawar mines. This was partially offset by lower overall metal grades.

The mined metal production decreased 23% in Q1 FY22 from 288,000 tonnes in Q4FY21, mainly due to lower ore production at Sindesar Khurd & Rampura Agucha mines due to operators' absenteeism in April & May in light of second wave of COVID-19.

India Grid Trust rose 0.72% at Rs 135.70. The Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) announced the completion of acquisition of 100% stake in two solar assets with cumulative capacity of 100 MW from Fotowatio Renewable Ventures at an enterprise value of Rs 660 crore.

With this acquisition, the company's asset portfolio will now consist of fourteen diversified power projects consisting of 40 transmission lines,11 substations (13,550 MVA capacity) and 100 MW of solar power plants across 18 states and one Union Territory. IndiGrid's acquisition of its first solar asset is an important milestone in the Indian infrastructure sector as this marks the first renewable energy acquisition by any InvIT in the country.

Vedanta gained 0.28% to Rs 271.85. The company said its total aluminum production grew 17% to 5,49,000 tonnes in Q1 FY22 compared with 4,69,000 tonnes in Q1 FY21. In zinc (India), integrated metal production was 236,000 tonnes for Q1 FY22, up 17% as compared to Q1 FY21 in line with higher availability of mined metal and down 8% as compared to Q4 FY21 on account of lower mined metal production.

In zinc (international), total production for Q1 FY22 was 61,000 tonnes, higher by 62% as compared to Q1 FY21 mainly due to higher Gamsberg production due to ramp up and COVID lockdown restrictions which were in place in Q1 FY21. Q1 FY22 production was higher by 10% as compared to Q4 FY21 due to 11% higher throughput.

In iron ore segment, there was no production at Goa due to suspension of mining pursuant to the Supreme Court judgement dated 7th February 2018 directing mining operations of all companies in Goa to stop with effect from 16th March 2018. At Karnataka, production volume in Q1 FY22 was 1.4 million tonnes, higher by 53% as compared to Q1 FY21 and 24% sequentially. Pig iron production was at 2,02,000 tonnes in Q1 FY22, higher by 85% as compared to Q1 FY21 and 29% sequentially.

In oil & gas segment, average gross operated production during Q1 FY22 across our assets was 164,899 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), up 4% compared to Q1 FY21 and at similar levels as compared to Q4 FY21.

In steel segment, total saleable production for Q1 FY22 was 289,000 tonnes, higher by 8% as compared to Q1 FY21, mainly due to COVID-19 restrictions in Q1 FY21. In comparison to Q4 FY2021, total saleable production was down by 9% mainly due to instabilities and hanging issues at blast furnace.

In power segment, during Q1 FY22, power sales were 2,722 million units higher by 48% as compared to Q1 FY21 and 19% lower as compared to Q4 FY21.

Zuari Agro Chemicals advanced 2.05% to Rs 154.45. The company said its single super phosphate (SSP) plant in Mahad (Maharashtra) has resumed operations with supply of raw materials having been tied up with a supplier. Zuari Agro Chemicals has further intimated that the NPK A plant has been shut down due to unavailability of raw materials. The company will inform once the plant resumes operations.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia declined across the board on Wednesday following a hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation report for June overnight.

Singapore's economy grew 14.3% year-on-year in the second quarter, official advanced estimates showed Wednesday. Still, the economy contracted by 2% as compared with the previous quarter, Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry said.

US stocks slipped after posting new highs on Tuesday as the biggest hike in U.S. inflation in 13 years rattled investors.

US inflation rose at its fastest pace in nearly 13 years, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. The consumer price index increased 5.4% in June from a year ago. Core CPI, excluding food and energy, jumped 4.5%, the sharpest move for that measure since September 1991.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is scheduled to appear in front of Congress Wednesday and Thursday to provide an update on monetary policy.

Investors are also monitoring the spread of the more contagious delta variant of COVID-19, which is hampering the recovery from the pandemic in some parts of the world. The unfolding earnings season is key too, with global stocks close to record highs on optimism over the bounce back from the health crisis.

The key equity indices ended near the day's high on Tuesday. The Nifty closed above above the 15,800 mark. Private banks and financial stocks advanced, followed by metal and pharma shares while media, IT and FMCG stocks declined.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 394.04 points or 0.76% to 52,769.73. The Nifty 50 index added 119.75 points or 0.76% to 15,812.35.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.01% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.47%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1863 shares rose and 1352 shares fell. A total of 140 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 18,72,44,854 with 40,38,964 deaths. India reported 4,32,778 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,10,784 deaths while 3,00,63,720 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

India reported 31,443 new COVID-19 cases in last 24 hours. The number new cases is lowest in 118 days. With 2,020 fatalities in last 24 hours, India's death toll reached 4,10,784, said the Union health and family welfare ministry data on Tuesday. This is the 35th consecutive day when India reported less than one lakh new coronavirus cases.

Economy:

The quick estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data for the month of May 2021, revealed that the index for base 2011-12 stands at 116.6. This marked a 29.3% jumped compared with the lockdown infected May 2020.

The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of May 2021 stand at 108, 113.5 and 161.9 respectively. These Quick Estimates will undergo revision in subsequent releases as per the revision policy of IIP.

The Consumer Price Index-based inflation (CPI) for the month of June 2021 recorded a rise of 6.26%, moderating a little after a six-month high reading of 6.30% in May 2021. Food prices stayed elevated though as food inflation (CFPI) rose to 5.15% in June 2021, as compared with 5.01% in May 2021. Inflation for the 'fuel and light' sub-group also surged to 12.7% compared to 11.6% in May 2021.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Financial Services index rose 1.44% to 16,846.05. The index has added 1.54% in two sessions.

ICICI Bank (up 2.85%), HDFC (up 2.69%), Axis Bank (up 2.25%), SBI Life Insurance (up 1.76%), HDFC Life (up 1.49%), Mahindra & Mahindra Financial (up 1.11%), HDFC Bank (up 1.03%), REC (up 0.92%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 0.90%), PFC (up 0.73%), Piramal Enterprises (up 0.70%), State Bank of India (up 0.40%), Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company (up 0.30%) and HDFC AMC (up 0.29%) advanced.

Meanwhile, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company (down 2.56%) and Shriram Transport Finance Company (down 1.26%) declined.

Stock in Spotlight:

Reliance Industries rose 0.70% to Rs 2099.05. The conglomerate has invested Rs 1 lakh in Reliance New Energy Solar (RNESL), a newly incorporated wholly owned subsidiary. RNESL is incorporated to undertake activities relating to solar energy. RNESL is yet to commence its business operations.

Ashoka Buildcon added 0.36% to Rs 112.15 after the construction firm received a letter of acceptance from National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for a road project worth Rs 726 crore in Punjab.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday (12 July) announced inclusion of Astral and Strides Pharma Science in the Futures & Options (F&O) segment with effect from 30 July 2021.

Astral (up 0.48%) and Strides Pharma Science (up 2.84%) advanced.

ISGEC Heavy Engineering gained 2.60% to Rs 808.70. The company has bagged an order for two waste to energy boilers (pressure & non-pressure parts) from Hitachi Zosen Inova, Switzerland for the Slough Multifuel Project in Slough, Berkshire, UK. Each of these boilers will have a capacity of 660 TPD. The company said that this is the second order that it has received from Hitachi Zosen Inova. Waste to Energy is a sustainable technology with huge potential and the EPC company is actively playing a constructive role in not just promoting it but actually executing it on the ground.

Sunteck Realty advanced 3.47% to Rs 360.70 after the company's pre-sales jumped 74% Y-o-Y (year-on-year) while collections grew 165% Y-o-Y in Q1 June 2021. Pre-sales grew 74% to Rs 176 crore in Q1 June 2021 as against Rs 101 crore in Q1 June 2020. Collections soared 165% to Rs 172 crore in Q1 FY22 as against Rs 65 crore in Q1 FY21. Collection efficiency stood at 98% of pre-sales in Q1 FY22 as against 64% in Q1 FY21.

Ramkrishna Forgings rose 1.24% to Rs 754.10. The firm, on Tuesday announced that it has received PPAP clearance (Parts Production Approval Process) and confirmation to launch order worth EUR 15 million from a European OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer). The said order is to be implemented over the period of three years distributed equally.

Global Markets:

European markets declined while Asian markets ended mostly higher on Tuesday as investors reacted to the release of China's trade data for June. The data showed that exports jumped 32.2% compared with a year earlier.

Wall Street's main indexes rose on Monday, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 hitting record highs as investors awaited the start of the second-quarter earnings season and a batch of economic data to gauge the next leg of the equity market.

Investors appeared cautiously optimistic ahead of the start of second-quarter earnings reports. Investors also anticipate important data to be released this week, including key readings on inflation on Tuesday and Wednesday, and June 2021 retail sales on Friday.

Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell is set to testify before Congress on Wednesday and Thursday, and investors will be looking for any signals of fiscal policy updates.

The benchmark indices ended near flat line after a volatile session on Monday. The Nifty closed below the 15,700 mark. Realty shares rallied for the second day.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 13.50 points or 0.03% to 52,372.69. The Nifty 50 index rose 2.80 points or 0.02% to 15,692.60.

The broader market traded higher. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.40%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.75%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 2060 shares rose and 1260 shares fell. A total of 175 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 18,68,05,301 with 40,31,711 deaths. India reported 4,50,899 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,08,764 deaths while 3,00,14,713 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

India on Monday reported 37,154 new COVID-19 cases in last 24 hours, pushing the country's caseload to 3,08,74,376. With 724 deaths due to virus, the toll is at 4,08,764. Meanwhile, 39,649 people recovered from the virus.

Economy:

The Industrial Production and Manufacturing Production data for May will be released today, 12 July 2021.

Industrial production in India surged 134.4% year-on-year in April of 2021 due to a low base effect from last year.

Meanwhile, manufacturing production in India increased 197.10% in April of 2021 over the same month in the previous year. It is the biggest increase ever, following a record 66.6% drop in April 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Consumer price inflation rate for June 2021 is also due today. Annual consumer inflation rate in India increased to 6.3% in May of 2021, the highest in 6 months, from a downwardly revised 4.23% in April 2021.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Realty index advanced 3.55% to 379.15, extending gains for second day. The index has added 6.01% in two sessions.

Indiabulls Real Estate (up 15.93%), Sunteck Realty (up 5.06%), Hemisphere Properties India (up 3.84%), DLF (up 3.43%), Oberoi Realty (up 3.21%), Sobha Developers (up 2.95%), Prestige Estates (up 2.46%), The Phoenix Mills (up 2.13%), Godrej Properties (up 2.11%) and Brigade Enterprises (up 2.02%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Avenue Supermarts shed 0.83% to Rs 3350.85. On a consolidated basis, the company posted a 137.9% jump in net profit to Rs 95.36 crore on 33.5% rise in net sales to Rs 5,183.12 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21. EBITDA in Q1 FY22 stood at Rs 224 crore, as compared to Rs 112 crore in the corresponding quarter of last year. EBITDA margin stood at 4.3% in Q1 FY22 as compared to 2.9% in Q1 FY21.

Delta Corp rose 1.27% to Rs 190.27 after the company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 28.93 crore in Q1 FY22 as against a net profit of Rs 57.77 crore in Q4 FY21. Net sales during the quarter slumped 64.1% to Rs 75.87 crore in Q1 FY22 from Rs 211.34 crore in Q4 FY21. The company had recorded a loss of Rs 28.24 crore in Q1 FY21. The firm's net sales have increased by 57% from Rs 48.34 crore in Q1 FY21.

Bajaj Healthcare fell 2.77% to Rs 970 after the company reported a fire accident at one of its unit situated at Bharuch, Gujarat on Sunday, 11 July 2021. The company said it is taking steps to ensure normal operation at the plant at the earliest.

Tanla Platforms hit an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 886.25 after the company said its board will consider a share buyback on Thursday, 22 July 2021. On the same day, the company will consider and approve the unaudited financial results for the quarter ended 30 June 2021

Hatsun Agro Product jumped 7.31% to Rs 970. The company said its newly commissioned milk manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu started commercial production on 12 July 2021. The plant has a milk handling capacity of 3.5 lakh litres per day (LLPD).

Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) grew 1.65% to Rs 684.90. The logistics firm said that total throughput increased by 35.35% to 9,91,746 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in Q1 FY22 from 7,32,711 TEUs in Q1 FY21. While the company's domestic throughput jumped 68.57% year-on-year to 1,76,669 TEUs in Q1 FY22. Export throughput improved by 29.81% to 8,15,077 TEUs in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21.

Maruti Suzuki India added 0.55% to Rs 7465.80 after the car major on Monday announced a price hike for Swift and all CNG variants owing to increase in various input costs. Increase in ex-showroom prices (Delhi) is up to Rs 15,000 on Swift and all CNG variants. The new prices are effective from Monday, 12 July, 2021. The company added that the price increase in other models is planned shortly and shall be intimated accordingly.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) fell 1.46% to Rs 717.65. The company, on Friday, announced that its board will meet on Wednesday (14 July) to consider raising up to $750 million through issuance of US$ denominated foreign currency bonds. The total amount for fund raising will not exceed $750 million and the fundraising will be on a private placement basis or otherwise, to any persons, entities, bodies corporate, companies, banks, financial institutions under applicable laws.

Federal Bank advanced 4.55% to Rs 89.55. The bank has received the approval from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 9 July 2021 for the re-appointment of Shyam Srinivasan as the managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of the bank for a period of three years with effect from 23 September 2021 till 22 September 2024.

Shaily Engineering Plastics hit an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 1,628.55 after the company said its board approved raising up to Rs 300 crore in one or more tranches for funding future capex requirements.

SJVN gained 2.30% to Rs 28.90. The company said that it has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) in Kathmandu Nepal for the development of 679 MW Lower Arun hydroelectric project (HEP).

Steel Strips Wheels (SSWL) advanced 3.67% to Rs 1068.20. The company's net profit increased 14.7% to Rs 51.08 crore in Q1 FY22 as against Rs 44.55 crore in Q4 FY21. Revenue from operations, however, declined 3.1% to Rs 678.12 crore in Q1 FY22 compared with Rs 699.87 crore in Q4 FY21. In the same period last year, the company recorded a net loss of Rs 38.09 crore and revenue of Rs 120.26 crore in Q1 FY21.

Global Markets:

European shares fell across the board while Asian stocks rallied on Monday after their U.S. peers chalked fresh records Friday in a broad-based rebound.

In economic news, China's central bank on Friday announced a 50 basis points cut in its reserve requirement ratio for all banks, effective from July. The RRR represents the amount of money that banks must hold in their coffers as a proportion of their total deposits. A lowering of that required amount will increase the supply of money that banks can lend to businesses and individuals.

The three major US stock indexes rallied to record closing highs on Friday as financials and other economically focused sectors rebounded after a selloff sparked by growth worries earlier in the week.

Meanwhile, the G20 Finance Ministers on July 10 approved a global corporate tax of at least 15% to be imposed on multinational companies (MNCs) with an aim to end tax havens. In a two-day virtual meet headquartered from Venice (Italy), the Group also endorsed a broad agreement plan introducing new rules for taxation of cross-border businesses, as per reports. Details and negotiations of the rules are likely to be finalised during the next G20 meet scheduled in October 2021.

Investors continued to watch the coronavirus situation in Asia-Pacific on Monday. Japan's government is set to put Tokyo under a new COVID state of emergency on Monday while stricter social distancing restrictions are set to kick in for the greater Seoul area in South Korea, as per reports. Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, several countries including Indonesia and Malaysia continue to struggle with a recent surge in infections, reports added.

As per the provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, skid 175.7 points or 0.33% at 52,402.47. The Nifty 50 index slipped 28.25 points or 0.18% at 15,699.80.

The broader market advanced. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.61% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.4%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1,912 shares rose and 1,286 shares fell. A total of 155 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 18,55,64,006 with 40,10,652 deaths. India reported 4,58,727 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,05,939 deaths while 2,98,88,284 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

The Union Cabinet has approved a new scheme India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package: Phase-II amounting to Rs 23,123 crore for financial year 2021-22. The scheme aims at accelerating health system preparedness for immediate responsiveness for early prevention, detection and management, with the focus on health infrastructure development.

India reported 43,393 new cases in last 24 hours on Friday, 9 July 2021. 911 deaths were also reported due to the coronavirus in last 24 hours.

Economy:

The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal of allowing the Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) to use the one lakh rupees Agriculture Infrastructure Fund which has been announced as part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Package. Addressing media in New Delhi, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said now APMCs will be eligible to get the benefits of this fund to improve their infrastructure. He said APMCs will be further strengthened and mandis will not be abolished.

Stocks in Spotlight:

TCS slipped 1.46% after the IT company's net profit fell 2.57% to Rs 9,008 crore on 3.90% increase in net sales to Rs 45,411 crore in Q1 June 2021 over Q4 March 2021. On a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) basis, the IT major's net profit rose 28.54% and net sales rose 18.50% in Q1 June 2021 over Q1 June 2020. Constant currency revenue grew 16.4% Y-o-Y. Operating margin expanded 1.9% Y-o-Y to 25.5% in Q1 June 2021. The company's order book grew 17.3% to $8.1 billion in Q1 June 2021 over Q1 June 2020.

Profit before tax slipped 2.90% to Rs 12,163 crore in Q1 FY22 as against Rs 12,527 crore in Q4 FY21. Net cash from operations was at Rs 10,296 crore i.e. 114.3% of net income during the quarter. The company said all its business verticals showed good sequential as well as Y-o-Y growth. Growth during the quarter was led by cloud strategy and transformation, next-generation enterprise transformation and supply chain services, with demand led by manufacturing & utilities and life sciences among the industry verticals.

Growth continued to be led by life sciences and healthcare (+7.3% Q-o-Q, +25.4% Y-o-Y). Retail and consumer packaged goods (CPG) also bounced back to double digit growth, growing 4.4% Q-o-Q and 21.7% Y-o-Y. BFSI (+3.1% Q-o-Q, +19.3% Y-o-Y), manufacturing (+4.8% Q-o-Q, +18.3% Y-o-Y), technology & services (+5% Q-o-Q, +12.3% Y-o-Y) and communications & media (+1.7% Q-o-Q, +6.9% Y-o-Y) also saw significantly improved performance.

Central Depository Services (India) (CDSL) rose 2.6% after the depository said that it has become the first depository to open four crore plus active demat accounts. CDSL is currently the largest depository in the country in terms of active demat accounts.

JSW Steel gained 2.03%. The steel major announced that the group's combined crude steel production stood at 5.07 million tonnes registering a 65% year on year jump in Q1 FY22 from 3.07 million tonnes posted in Q1 FY21. On a sequential basis, the combined steel production grew 16% from 4.39 million tonnes reported in Q4 FY21. The capacity utilization at standalone level was at 91% in Q1 FY22 due to shortage of oxygen vis-à-vis 93% in Q4 FY21.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) rose 0.64% after the company informed that Ahmadabad Mumbai Tejas Express will resume its services from 7 August 2021. The train will run four days in the week viz, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, IRCTC said.

Dwarikesh Sugar Industries advanced 8% after the company said that it has embarked upon a project to set up a 175 kilo litre per day (KLPD) distillery at its Dwarikesh Dham Unit, in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. Necessary LOIs for the critical equipment's are under issuance, the company said. The company's existing distillery capacity is 162.5 KLPD, with existing capacity utilization being approximately 90%. It proposes to add a capacity of 175 KLPD to its distillery unit.

Ashoka Buildcon spurted 3.66% after the company secured a Letter of Award (LoA) from IRCON International for a project worth Rs 482.34 crore in Dharam-Katra section, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). The accepted contract value of the project is Rs 482.34 crore.

Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) fell 0.67%. The PSU company said that it has won a major order for supplying 12 steam generators from Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL). Valued at Rs 1,405 crore, the order has been won under NPCIL's fleet mode procurement programme and mandates supply of 12 steam generators for India's highest rated indigenously-developed 700 MWe Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) to be set up at four different locations in the country. The steam generators will be manufactured at the Tiruchirapalli plant of BHEL.

Alembic Pharma was down 0.63%. The drug maker received a final approval from the US drug regulator for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for erlotinib tablets, 25 mg, 100 mg and 150 mg. The approved ANDA is therapeutically equivalent to the reference listed drug product (RLD), Tarceva tablets, 25 mg, 100 mg and 150 mg, of OSI Pharmaceuticals. Erlotinib tablet in combination with gemcitabine is indicated for the first-line treatment of patients with locally advanced, unresectable or metastatic pancreatic cancer.

Tata Power rose 1%. The company has won a contract worth Rs 400 crore from the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEBL) on 2 July 2021 to develop 64 MW solar rooftop project for domestic consumers across all districts of Kerala. As a part of this agreement, the company will implement projects through KSEBL of 80 MW for individual households with solar capacity ranging from 3kW -10kW) and for 20 MW of residential/housing society with projects (solar capacity ranging from 11kW -100kW).

Global Markets:

European shares advanced while most Asian stocks declined on Friday as Covid worries resurfaced in the region.

China's consumer price index for June rose 1.1% as compared with a year ago, data from the country's National Bureau of Statistics showed on Friday. The producer price index for June 2021 rose 8.8% as compared with a year ago. The June 2021 PPI reading was a slight decrease in pace from the 9% increase in May 2021.

Olympics organizers will ban spectators from the upcoming summer games in Tokyo, after a state of emergency for the city was declared by Japan on Thursday as the country sees rising COVID-19 cases. The state of emergency will last till August 22.

South Korea on Friday announced that the greater Seoul area will be placed under the toughest social distancing rules of Level 4, as per reports. The city of Sydney earlier this week announced that COVID-19 restrictions would be extended by another week.

Wall Street lost ground on Thursday, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq pulling back from record closing highs in a broad sell-off driven by uncertainties surrounding the pace of the U.S. economic recovery.

As per the provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, skid 485.82 points or 0.92% at 52,568.18.

The Nifty 50 index slipped 151.75 points or 0.96% at 15,727.35. After opening at 15,855.40 mark, the 50-unit index declined as the session progressed and hit the day's low of 15,682.90 in mid-afternoon trade. Value buying in late trade pushed the index above 15,700 mark.

Selling was broad based. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.37%. while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was lost 0.09%.

Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 1,474 shares rose and 1,715 shares fell. A total of 141 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 18,50,78,882 with 40,01,791 deaths. India reported 4,60,704 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,05,028 deaths while 2,98,43,825 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

India on Thursday reported 45,892 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, according to data from the health ministry. Thursday is the 30th consecutive day when India reported less than one lakh new coronavirus cases. The active cases have now come down below 5 lakh.

Economy:

Fitch Ratings, on Wednesday, 7 July 2021, cut India's growth forecast to 10% for the current fiscal, from 12.8% estimated earlier, due to slowing recovery post second wave of COVID-19, and said rapid vaccination could support a sustainable revival in business and consumer confidence.

In a report, the global rating agency said the challenges for banking sector posed by the coronavirus pandemic have increased due to a virulent second wave in the first quarter of the financial year ending March 2022 (FY22). Fitch Ratings revised down India's real GDP for FY22 by 280 bp to 10%, underlining our belief that renewed restrictions have slowed recovery efforts and left banks with a moderately worse outlook for business and revenue generation in FY22, it said.

Politics:

Forty three ministers were sworn in to the Union Council of Ministers on Wednesday (7 July 2021) as Prime Minister Narendra Modi inducted many new faces. They include 15 Cabinet Ministers and 28 Ministers of State.

BJP leaders Narayan Rane, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sarbananda Sonowal, Dr Virendra Kumar, Ashwini Vaishnaw and Bhupendra Yadav and R C P Singh of JD(U) and Pashupati Kumar Paras of LJP were sworn in as Cabinet Ministers. Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri, Mansukh Mandaviya, Kiren Rijiju, Raj Kumar Singh, G Kishan Reddy, Parshottam Rupala and Anurag Thakur were also elevated to the rank of Cabinet Ministers.

BJP MPs Pankaj Chaudhury, S P Singh Baghel, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Sobha Karandlaje, Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma, Darshana Vikram Jardosh, Meenakshi Lekhi, Annapurna Devi, A Narayanaswamy and Kaushal Kishore, Ajay Bhatt, B L Verma, Ajay Kumar, Chauhan Devusinh and Anupriya Patel of Apna Dal were sworn in as the Ministers of State. Besides, BJP leaders Kapil Patil, Subhash Sarkar, Bharati Pawar, Bishweswar Tudu, Shantanu Thakur, John Barala, L Murugan and Nisith Pramanik and others also took oath as Ministers of State.

This is the first Cabinet expansion of the Narendra Modi government in the second tenure.

Nifty Result Today:

IT major Tata Consultancy Services (down 0.51%) will announce its quarterly result today.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Macrotech Developers advanced 3.65% after the company said that it has clocked pre-sales of Rs 957 crore in Q1 FY22, up by 88% from Rs 509 crore in Q1 FY21. The company's pre-sales are, however, lower by 62% compared with Rs 2,531 crore in Q4 FY21. Customer collections stood at Rs 1,714 crore in the first quarter of the current financial year, higher by 346% compared with the corresponding period a year before. Sequentially, the collections have declined by 18% from Rs 2,089 crore in Q4 FY21. The real estate firm has reduced consolidated net debt by Rs 3,600 crore during the quarter. Lodha has entered into joint development agreements with two new projects totaling 1.5 million sq ft of saleable area.

Tata Motors declined 3.66%. The auto major said that the Group's global wholesales in Q1 FY22, including Jaguar Land Rover, were at 2,14,250 units., higher by 134%, as compared to Q1 FY21. Global wholesales of all Tata Motors' commercial vehicles and Tata Daewoo range in Q1 FY22 were at 52,470 units., higher by 355%, over Q1 FY21. Global wholesales of all passenger vehicles in Q1 FY22 were at 1,61,780 units., higher by 102% as compared to Q1 FY21. Global wholesales for Jaguar Land Rover were 97,141 vehicles. Jaguar wholesales for the quarter were 21,373 vehicles, while Land Rover wholesales for the quarter were 75,768 vehicles.

Kalyan Jewellers India rose 0.58% after the company's revenue achievement in India for Q1 FY22 was higher by approximately 190% when compared to Q1 FY21. The company said that overall revenue achievement in India for the recently concluded quarter was approximately 55% of Q1 FY 2020. A significant portion of the company's revenue for Q1 FY 2022 was booked during the month of April, during which many of the showrooms in non-south markets either remained closed or were operating with restrictions resulting in a higher share of business accruing from south markets, as well as from the gold division. Partly as a result of this phenomenon as well as the continuing impact of the customs duty cut, gross margin in India remained muted and below our historical levels.

Bajaj Healthcare jumped 7.11%. Bajaj Healthcare has received a licence from DRDO to Manufacture and Market of “2-Deoxy-D-Glucose” (2-DG) as approved medication for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

RailTel Corporation of India rose 0.49% after the company received a five-year deal worth Rs 23.43 crore from Sagar Cable Network for providing multicast drop and carry with 1.5G capacity at 66 locations.

Alembic Pharma rose 0.21%. The drug maker said that it has received final approval from the US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) for its ANDA for desipramine hydrochloride tablets USP, 10 mg, 25 mg, 50 mg, 75 mg, 100 mg, and 150 mg. The approved abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) is therapeutically equivalent to the reference listed drug product (RLD), Norpramin tablets, 10 mg, 25 mg, 50 mg, 75 mg, 100 mg, and 150 mg, of Validus Pharmaceuticals.

Shyam Metalics rose 0.75%. On a consolidated basis, Shyam Metalics and Energy reported net profit to Rs 387.70 crore in Q4 FY21, steeply higher than net profit of Rs 79.93 crore in Q4 FY20. Revenue from operations increased by 116.90% to Rs 2,350.51 crore during the quarter. Profit before tax in Q4 FY21 stood at Rs 549.16 crore, up 648.89% from Rs 73.33 crore in Q4 FY20.

K P R Mill rallied 3.99% after the company said that its board will consider a stock split and Q1 results on Tuesday, 27 July 2021.

Global Markets:

US Dow futures tumble 454 points, indicating a weak opening in the US stocks today.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note tumbled to 1.26% on Thursday, reflecting investors' anxiety about the economic outlook and new concerns about the highly contagious Delta variant of Covid-19.

European markets fell across the board while most Asian stocks declined on Thursday.

Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong came under pressure after regulatory fears resurfaced. Beijing recently announced a stepping up in oversight on Chinese listings in the U.S., many of whom are tech companies. That came after a recent crackdown on ride-hailing giant Didi and other tech firms, which once again raised concerns over the regulatory outlook.

In the US, the S&P 500 rose to a fresh record on Wednesday as investors poured back into trusty mega-cap technology stocks.

The US Federal Reserve's minutes from its June 15-16 meeting, during which it held short-term interest rates near zero but also indicated that it might be adjusting policy otherwise in the months ahead, revealed the central bank discussed tapering but was in no rush to start the process.

Investors also likely continued to monitor the Covid situation regionally. Japan will declare a Covid-19 state of emergency in Tokyo to run throughout the Olympic Games. Yoshihide Suga, prime minister, will hold a press conference on Thursday evening to announce the measures, as increased prevalence of the Delta variant drives a rapid spread of coronavirus infections.

Meanwhile, Australia's New South Wales state announced Wednesday a week-long extension of Sydney's lockdown.

As per the provisional closing data, the S&P BSE Sensex, added 193.58 points or 0.37% to close at 53,054.21. The Nifty 50 index gained 61.40 points or 0.39% and traded at 15,879.50.

The broader market closed with gains. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.58% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.38%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1,809 shares rose and 1,393 shares fell. A total of 144 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 18,46,14,330 with 39,93,197 deaths. India reported 4,59,920 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,04,211 deaths while 2,97,99,534 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

India has reported 43,733 fresh cases of COVID-19 and 930 deaths in the last 24 hours. Recovery rate has increased to 97.18%.

Politics:

The Union Cabinet reshuffle/expansion will reportedly take place today, 7 July 2021, at 18:00 IST. This will be the first cabinet reshuffle in the second term of the Narendra Modi government.

The cabinet reshuffle aims to increase women representation, bring in state leaders with strong administrative experience, reduce the average age of the ministry and induct people with professional background, reports added.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Titan Company fell 2%. The company recorded revenue growth of about 117% (excluding bullion sales) in Q1'22, with revenue contribution of approximately 50%, 10% and 40% coming from April, May and June months respectively. During the quarter, the jewellery segment grew by 107% (excluding bullion sales) as compared to last year, primarily due to zero sales in April of last year. Most of the sales of May month was lost in both the years. The watches & wearables division grew 280% over Q1 FY21 as sales were nil in April month of last year and moreover the recovery this year has been faster than that witnessed last year when footfalls in stores were very weak due to higher apprehension of covid. The eye wear division grew 117% over Q1 FY21 as sales were nil in April month of last year and also on back of rapid recovery in walk-ins in May 2021 and June months, compared to last year. Total store operational days were at 71%, 19% and 62% for the April 2021, May 2021 and June month respectively. 90%+ of stores are now open.

RBL Bank added 4.48%. The private sector bank's total deposits jumped 21% to Rs 74,480 crore in the quarter ended 30 June 2021 as against Rs 61,736 crore reported in the quarter ended 30 June 2020. Retail LCR Deposits surged 47% to Rs 29,484 crore. Current Account-Savings Account (CASA) soared 35% to Rs 25,071 crore. CASA ratio stood at 33.7% as on 30 June 2021 as against 30.1% registered on 30 June 2020. Liquidity Coverage Ratio fell to 135% on 30 June 2021 from 164% posted on 30 June 2020.

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank jumped 6.47% after the bank's total deposits increased 24% to Rs 13,673 crore in Q1 FY22 from Rs 11,057 crore in Q1 FY21. Deposits rose 4% last quarter compared with Rs 13,136 crore in Q4 FY21. CASA jumped 77% to Rs 2,773 crore in Q1 FY22 from Rs 1,568 crore in Q1 FY21. It is higher by 3% compared with Rs 2,699 crore in Q4 FY21. CASA ratio was at 20% as on 30 June 2021 as against 14% as on 30 June 2020 and 21% as on 31 March 2021. Disbursement for the quarter rose by 175% to Rs 1,311 crore in Q1 FY22 from Rs 477 crore in Q1 FY21. However, it has declined 69% from Rs 4,274 crore in Q4 FY21.

Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) rose 2.3%. The company said that steel production surged 20% to 2.01 million tonnes (MT) in Q1 FY22 as against 1.67 MT in Q1 FY21. Solid performance in Q1 FY22 gives us confidence of achieving FY22 production target of 8.0 to 8.5 million tonnes, the company said in a statement. Despite challenging demand conditions in the domestic market, as a result of a severe than expected second wave of COVID-19, JSPL sales rose by 3% to 1.61 MT in Q1 FY22 from 1.56 MT in Q1 FY21. Buoyant export markets continued to provide support with exports accounting for 44% of volumes in the month of June 21 and 34% in 1QFY22. Exports accounted for 58% of total sales volume in Q1 FY21

Sobha spurted 5.86% after the company's total new sales increased by 37.69% to 8,95,539 square feet in Q1 FY22 from 6,50,400 square feet in Q1 FY21. Total sales value rose 40.02% to Rs 682.90 crore in Q1 FY22 from Rs 487.70 crore in Q1 FY21. Sobha's share in the sales values at Rs 570.90 crore in Q1 FY22, was higher by 45.23% as compared with Rs 393.10 crore in Q1 FY21. Total average price realization improved by 1.71% to Rs 7,626 per square feet in Q1 FY22 from Rs 7,498 per square feet in Q1 FY21.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) slipped 0.12%. The company said that it will acquire 1.60 crore shares (up to 31.2% stake) in ReNew Sunlight Energy (RSEPL), in one or more tranches, for a cash consideration of Rs 16.07 crore. RSEPL is subsidiary of ReNew Green Energy Solutions, which in turn is a subsidiary of Renew Power. The subscription of equity shares in RSEPL will enable M&M to become captive user and consume solar power generated by RSEPL. Accordingly, the company has also signed a power delivery agreement with RSEPL. Under the open access arrangement of the company with the electricity distribution companies, the manufacturing plants of the company in Maharashtra will consume the said solar power generated. The company expects to complete the transaction by 31 December 2021.

Redington (India) gained 3.58% after the company's board approved issuing one bonus share for each equity share held as on the record date. The record date for reckoning the eligible shareholders entitled to be allotted bonus shares has been fixed as 20 August 2021.

Tanla Platforms added 0.16%. Karix Mobile, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, announced the deployment of a conversational solution for Panasonic India using the WhatsApp Business Solution Platform. The solution will facilitate one-to-one conversations between Panasonic's customers and the brand. Building strong, personalized connections with its end-users helping them connect with the brandis one of the primary objectives of this solution. While the other service channels, specifically SMS and email, will remain available and active, this new channel has been built to be a more convenient option for customers.

ISGEC Heavy Engineering gained 2.64% after the company announced that its subsidiary and joint venture company has bagged an order for critical reactors for USA. ISGEC on Wednesday announced that its joint venture company, Isgec Hitachi Zosen received an order for the supplying four reactors of vanadium modified low alloy steel, for a renewable energy project in USA. The scope of work includes mechanical design, material procurement, fabrication, testing, and supply of equipment.

Global Markets:

European shares rose across the board while most Asian stocks declined on Wednesday following losses on Wall Street with the S&P 500 ending its seven-day winning streak.

US stocks fell on Tuesday as Wall Street kicked off the holiday-shortened week on concerns about the economic outlook and risks from COVID-19 variants.

The ISM Services index, a major gauge of the services sector, slowed to 60.1 in June from a record in the prior month, data released Tuesday showed.

Investors await the release of June Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes due Wednesday for clues about the central bank's behind-the-scenes discussions on winding down its quantitative easing program.

The main indices ended a volatile session with minor losses on Tuesday amid mixed global cues. Auto and IT shares tumbled while private banks advanced.

As per the provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 18.82 points or 0.04% at 52,861.18. The index reversed gains after hitting a record high of 53,129.37 in mid-afternoon trade.

The Nifty 50 index fell 16.1 points or 0.1% to end at 15,818.25. After opening at 15,813.75, the index hit the day's high of 15,914.20 in afternoon trade. Heavy selling in the mid-afternoon dragged the index near 15,800 mark.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.19% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.26%. The BSE Small Cap index saw profit taking after rallying near 3% in for four consecutive trading days.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1598 shares rose and 1,660 shares fell. A total of 128 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 18,41,54,287 with 39,84,582 deaths. India reported 4,64,357 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,03,281 deaths while 2,97,52,294 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

India has reported 34,703 new cases in last 24 hours - the lowest in 111 days. Meanwhile, there were 2,97,52,294 total recoveries across the country so far and 51,864 patients recovered during last 24 hours. Daily recoveries continue to outnumber the daily new cases for the 54th consecutive day.

Economy:

The gross GST revenue collected in the month of June 2021 stood at Rs 92,849 crore of which CGST stood at Rs 16,424 crore, SGST stood at Rs 20,397, IGST came at Rs 49,079 crore (including Rs 25,762 crore collected on import of goods) and Cess stood at Rs 6,949 crore (including Rs 809 crore collected on import of goods).

The revenues for the month of June 2021 are 2% higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year. GST collection after posting above Rs 1 lakh crore mark for eight months in a row, the collection in June 2021 dropped below Rs 1 lakh crore. The GST collection for June 2021 is related to the business transactions made during May 2021. During May 2021, most of the States/UTs were under either complete or partial lock down due to COVID. The e-way bill data for the month of May 2021 shows that during the month, 3.99 crore e-way bills were generated as compared to 5.88 crore in the month of April 2021, down by more than 30%.

During the month of June, the government said it settled Rs 19,286 crore to CGST and Rs 16,939 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Bajaj Finance rose 2.12% after the company's customer franchise increased by 17.44% to 50.5 million as on 30 June 2021 as against 43 million as of 30 June 2020. The company acquired 1.9 million new customers in Q1 FY22 as compared to 0.5 million in Q1 FY21. New loans booked during Q1 FY22 were 4.6 million as compared to 1.8 million in Q1 FY21. Assets under management (AUM) stood at approximately Rs 159,000 crore (including IPO financing receivable of approximately Rs 2,900 crore) as of 30 June 2021 as compared to Rs 138,055 crore as of 30 June 2020. The company's AUM in Q1 FY22 grew by approximately Rs 7,100 crore (Rs 4,200 crore excluding IPO financing receivable). Consolidated liquidity surplus stood at approximately Rs 10,900 crore as of 30 June 2021. The company's liquidity position remains strong.

AU Small Finance Bank jumped 8.36% after the bank's total deposits increased 38% to Rs 37,014 crore as on 30 June 2021 from Rs 26,734 crore as on 30 June 2020. The bank's total deposits increased 3% as on 30 June 2021 from Rs 35,979 crore as on 31 March 2021. Loan AUM gained 22% YoY to Rs 36,635 crore as on 30 June 2021. CASA ratio stood at 26% as on 30 June 2021 as against 14% as on 30 June 2020 and 23% as on 31 March 2021. Average cost of funds was 6.3% in Q1 FY22 as compared with 7.2% in Q1 FY21. Gross advances increased by 31% to Rs 34,688 crore as on 30 June 2021 from Rs 26,534 crore as on 30 June 2020. However, the gross advances are lower by 2% as compared with Rs 35,356 crore as on 31 March 2021.

IDFC First Bank slipped 1.47%. The private sector bank's total customer deposits increased 35.53% to Rs 84,583 crore as on 30 June 2021 as against Rs 62,409 crore as on 30 June 2020. Sequentially, the bank's deposits have risen 2.25% as on 30 June 2021 from Rs 82,725 crore as on 31 March 2021. CASA deposits of the bank soared 97.73% to Rs 46,449 crore at the end of 30 June 2021 from Rs 23,491 crore on 30 June 2020. CASA ratio improved to 51.04% on 30 June 2021 from 33.74% in 30 June 2020. Average CASA ratio as of 30 June 2021 stood at 50.27% compared with 50.23% as of 31 March 2021 and 32% as of 30 June 2020. Depositors' Concentration (Rs <=5 crore) stood at 81.88% at the end of 30 June 2021 compared with 64.81% on 30 June 2020. Gross funded assets grew by 9.02% to Rs 1,13,434 crore as of 30 June 2021 from Rs 1,04,050 crore as of 30 June 2020.

S H Kelkar and Company fell 4%. The company recorded a consolidated sales of about Rs 355 crore, despite a challenging domestic macro-environment owing to lockdowns and restrictions. Client engagements and wins continued to remain at healthy levels across FMCG customers during the quarter. Following easing of restrictions and lockdowns from June 2021 onwards, S H Kelkar and Company (SHK) is witnessing recovery in demand and normalisation in consumer sentiments. Creative Flavours and Fragrances (CFF), the company's 100% wholly-owned subsidiary, delivered a healthy performance during the quarter on the back of improved demand and volume offtake in key markets. On a like-to-like basis, the revenues stood at Rs 277 crore.

Coforge fell 0.54%. The IT company in a regulatory filing on Tuesday (6 July) announced that the IT company's board has approved the fresh issuance of equity shares for the purpose of capital raising way of a depository receipts issue or a Qualified Institutions Placement or any other mode not exceeding Rs 375 crore.

Maruti Suzuki declined 1.01%. The car major's total auto production surged 226.30% to 1,65,576 units in June 2021 over 50,742 units in June 2020. Total passenger vehicle production figures surged 229.52% to 1,63,037 units in June 2021 compared with 49,476 units in June 2020. Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) production soared 100.55% to 2,539 units in June 2021 as against 1,266 units in June 2020.

TCS skid 1.63%. The IT major has entered into a strategic partnership with OTT streaming platform, SonyLIV, to help create an innovative business model enabled by digital technologies, enhance customer experience, and pave the path to future growth.

Goldiam International soared 9.27% after the company said its board will consider a share buyback on Wednesday, 21 July 2021.

Global Markets:

European shares fell across the board while most Asian markets closed on a mixed note on Tuesday. US markets were shut on Monday in observance of Independence Day.

Meanwhile, OPEC+ ministers called off oil output talks on Monday after clashing last week when the United Arab Emirates rejected a proposed eight-month extension to output curbs, meaning no deal to boost production has been agreed.

As per the provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rallied 417.62 points or 0.8% at 52,902.29. The Nifty 50 index gained 119.55 points or 0.76% at 15,841.75.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.39% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.87%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 2,225 shares rose and 1,114 shares fell. A total of 167 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 18,37,88,043 with 39,77,121 deaths. India reported 4,82,071 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,02,728 deaths while 2,97,00,430 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Politics:

The Monsoon session of Parliament will commence from 19 July 2021 and will continue till 13 August 2021, an official communication said on Friday, 5 July 2021. Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha issued official orders about the convening of the Monsoon session from 19 July 2021.

Economy:

The seasonally adjusted India Services Business Activity Index (India Services PMI) stood at 41.2 in June 2021, highlighting a further contraction in output. Moreover, falling from 46.4 in May 2021, the latest reading pointed to the fastest rate of reduction since July 2020. Monitored companies commonly indicated that the intensification of the COVID-19 crisis and tight restrictions curbed demand for services. Subdued demand conditions resulted in a second successive monthly drop in new business received by services firms. The pace of contraction was sharp and the quickest since July 2020.

Meanwhile, India's merchandise exports in June 2021 was at $32.46 billion, an increase of 47.34% over $22.03 billion in June 2020 and an increase of 29.7% over $25.03 billion in June 2019. Merchandise imports in June 2021 was $41.86 billion, an increase of 96.33% over $21.32 billion in June 2020 and an increase of 2.03% over $41.03 billion in June 2019.

New Listing:

Shares of India Pesticides were trading at Rs 342.20 apiece at 15:30 IST on the BSE, at a premium of 15.61% as compared with issue price of Rs 296 per share. The scrip was listed at Rs 360 per share, at a premium of 21.62% to the issue price. It hit a high of Rs 368 and a low of Rs 340.15 in the trading session. On the BSE, 21.21 lakh shares of the company were traded in the counter. The initial public offer (IPO) of India Pesticides received bids for 56.07 crore shares as against 1.93 crore shares on offer, according to the stock exchange data. The issue was subscribed 29.04 times. The issue opened for bidding on Wednesday, 23 June 2021, and closed on Friday, 25 June 2021. The price band for the IPO was set at Rs 290-296 per share.

Stocks in Spotlight:

HDFC Bank rose 1.12%. The bank's advances aggregated to approximately Rs 11,47,500 crore as of 30 June 2021, rising around 14.4% over Rs 10,03,300 crore as of 30 June 2020. The bank's advances grew around 1.3% as of 30 June 2021 from Rs 11,32,800 crore as of 31 March 2021. As per the Basel 2 segment classification among the bank's advances, the domestic retail loans as of 30 June 2021 grew by around 10.5% over 30 June 2020 and remained at a level similar to that as of 31 March 2021. The domestic wholesale loans as of 30 June 2021 grew by around 17% over 30 June 2020 and around 2% over 31 March 2021. Among loan categories, the retail loans grew by around 9% over 30 June 2020 and were lower by around 1% as compared to 31 March 2021. The commercial & rural banking loans grew by around 25% over 30 June 2020 and around 4% over 31 March 2021; and other wholesale loans grew by around 10.5% over 30 June 2020 and around 1.5% over 31 March 2021.

IndusInd Bank rose 1.17% to Rs 1021.80 after the bank's deposits increased 26% to Rs 2,67,629 crore as on 30 June 2021 from Rs 2,11,800 crore as on 30 June 2020. Retail deposits and deposits from small business customers amounted to Rs 1,05,737 crore as of 30 June 2021 compared with Rs 95,811 crore as of 31 March 2021. Net advances of the bank rose by 7% to Rs 2,11,159 crore as on 30 June 2021 from Rs 1,98,069 crore as on 30 June 2020. CASA ratio was at 42.1% as on 30 June 2021 as against 40.1% as on 30 June 2020 and 41.8% as on 31 March 2021.

Yes Bank fell 0.15%. The private sector bank said loans & advances declined by 0.4% to Rs 163,914 crore as on 30 June 2021 from Rs 164,510 crore as on 30 June 2020. The loans & advances issued are lower by 1.8% as compared with Rs 166,893 crore as on 31 March 2021. The bank's deposits have increased by 39.1% to Rs 163,295 crore as on 30 June 2021 from Rs 117,360 crore as on 30 June 2020. The figures has risen by 0.2% from Rs 162,947 crore as on 31 March 2021.

Federal Bank advanced 2.11%. The private lender on Sunday announced that its total deposits increased 9% to Rs 1,69,393 crore as of 30 June 2021 compared to Rs 1,54,938 crore reported on 30 June 2020. Sequentially, deposits fell 1.88% as of 30 June 2021 from Rs 1,34,877 crore as on 31 March 2021. At the end of the June 2021, the private lender's customer deposits were at Rs 1,64,603 crore (up 10% Y-o-Y), interbank deposits were at Rs 2,362 crore (down 17% Y-o-Y) and certificates of deposit stood at Rs 2,428 crore (down 9% Y-o-Y). CASA rose 19% to Rs 58,959 crore as of 30 June 2021 from Rs 49,616 crore registered in 30 June 2020. CASA ratio improved to 34.81% at the end of 30 June 2021 from 32.02% recorded on 30 June 2021. Federal Bank's gross advanced grew by 8% to Rs 132,770 crore as of 30 June 2021 from Rs 1,23,430 crore posted on 30 June 2020. On a sequential basis, gross advances fell 1.56% from 1,34,877 crore posted in 31 March 2021. The bank's liquidity coverage ratio was at 215.20% as on 30 June 2021, falling from 233.14% posted on 30 June 2020.

Heranba Industries rallied 5.66% after the company said that it has received environmental clearance for manufacturing at its Sarigam plant in Gujarat. The environmental clearance, received from Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) of Government of India, is for expansion of the company's Gujarat-based pesticides intermediates, fungicides, herbicides, insecticides manufacturing plant. The company has an existing land parcel measuring 55,000 sq.mt. at Sarigam and no additional land will be required for the proposed expansion. The company has developed greenbelt in area of 5,500 sqm and will develop greenbelt in an area of 12,650 sqm covering 33% of the project area. This expansion plan will entail setting up an additional manufacturing capacity of 24,900 Tonnes per Annum (TPA) for manufacturing of insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and pesticides intermediates. The estimated cost for this expansion is Rs 110 crore, which includes an existing investment of Rs 20 crore.

Panacea Biotec surged 4.53% after the company said it received manufacturing license from Drug Controller General (India) for Sputnik V vaccine against Covid-19. The license is a necessary condition for using Sputnik V produced by Panacea Biotec in India. The batches produced at Panacea Biotec's facilities at Baddi, Himachal Pradesh were earlier shipped to the Gamaleya Center in Russia for quality control. The batches have passed all the checks for quality parameters both at the Gamaleya Center in Russia and at the Central Drug Laboratory, Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh in India. Sputnik V was registered in India under the emergency use authorization procedure on 12 April 2021 and vaccination against COVID-19 with the Russian vaccine started on 14 May 2021. Sputnik V has been registered in 67 countries globally with total population of over 3.5 billion people. The vaccine is based on a proven and well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors and uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination, providing immunity with a longer duration than vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia were mixed on Monday. A private survey on China's services sector activity in June showed growth slowing sharply in June to a 14-month low. The Caixin/Markit services Purchasing Managers' Index for June, released Monday, came in at 50.3 — a significant decline from May's reading of 55.1.

U.S. markets will remain shut on Monday in observance of Independence Day.

U.S. stocks advanced a second straight week to end Friday, with all three benchmark indexes at fresh all-time highs before heading into a long holiday weekend, after a monthly report employment was better than expected as the economy bounces back from the COVID pandemic.

The U.S. added 850,000 jobs in June, marking the biggest monthly gain since March, and jobs gains in May were raised slightly to 583,0000 from 559,000. Unemployment rose to 5.9% in June from 5.8% in May.

Outside of the jobs data, a reading on factory orders for May showed a 1.7% rise, after a revised 0.1% decline in the prior month, the Commerce Department said Friday. Factory orders have risen in 12 of the last 13 months.

Meanwhile, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and a Russia - members of the group known as OPEC+ on Friday again delayed a decision about easing output curbs that have been in place to help stabilize crude prices. The oil decision comes as the group is trying to balance the after effects of the COVID pandemic on energy demand and concerns about the impact of variants of the coronavirus in parts of the world against expectations for higher demand as many economies emerge from lockdowns and stay-at-home protocols put in place to limit the pandemic's spread.

The domestic equity barometers ended with decent gains on Friday. The Nifty closed above the 15,700 mark. Metal stocks declined for fourth consecutive session.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 166.07 points or 0.32% to 52,484.67. The Nifty 50 index added 42.20 points or 0.27% to 15,722.20.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.05% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 1.01%.

So far in 2021, the BSE Mid-Cap index and the BSE Small-Cap index have gained 23.77% and 39.94%, respectively. Meanwhile, the benchmark Sensex has added 9.48% during the same period.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1909 shares rose and 1307 shares fell. A total of 132 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 18,26,45,084 with 39,55,756 deaths. India reported 5,09,637 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,00,312 deaths while 2,95,48,302 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

India on Friday, 2 July 2021 reported 46,617 new cases and 853 deaths, as per health ministry's updated data. Total recoveries have jumped to 59,384.

Economy:

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the 23rd issue of the Financial Stability Report (FSR), which reflects the collective assessment of the Sub-Committee of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) on risks to financial stability and the resilience of the financial system in the context of contemporaneous issues relating to development and regulation of the financial sector.

According to the RBI, sustained policy support, benign financial conditions and the gathering momentum of vaccination are nurturing an uneven global recovery. Policy support has helped in shoring up financial positions of banks, containing non-performing loans and maintaining solvency and liquidity globally.

On the domestic front, the ferocity of the second wave of COVID-19 has dented economic activity, but monetary, regulatory and fiscal policy measures have helped curtail the solvency risk of financial entities, stabilise markets, and maintain financial stability. The capital to risk-weighted assets ratio (CRAR) of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) increased to 16.03% and the provisioning coverage ratio (PCR) stood at 68.86% in March 2021.

Macro stress tests indicate that the gross non-performing asset (GNPA) ratio of SCBs may increase from 7.48% in March 2021 to 9.80% by March 2022 under the baseline scenario; and to 11.22% under a severe stress scenario, although SCBs have sufficient capital, both at the aggregate and individual level, even under stress.

Going forward, as banks respond to credit demand in a recovering economy, they will need to reinforce their capital and liquidity positions to fortify themselves against potential balance sheet stress.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index fell 1.47% to 5,130.65. The index has declined 3.03% in four sessions.

Adani Enterprises (down 4.68%), Tata Steel (down 2.28%), Welspun Corp (down 2.27%), SAIL (down 2.05%), MOIL (down 1.81%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 1.75%), JSW Steel (down 1.40%) and Hindalco Industries (down 0.75%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Eicher Motors shed 0.45% to Rs 2662.10. The company said that total motorcycles sales rose 13% to 43,048 units in June 2021 from 38,065 units in June 2020. Sequentially, the company's total motorcycles jumped 57.7% in June 2021 from 27,294 units sold in May 2021.

Hero MotoCorp lost 0.02% to Rs 2921.45. The two-wheel major's total sales grew 3.80% to 4,69,160 units in June 2021 as against 4,51,983 units in June 2020. Sequentially, total sales soared 156.30% in June 2021 from 1,83,044 units in May 2021.

Coal India gained 1.44% at Rs 147.75. On a provisional basis, the company's coal production rose 2% to 40 million tonnes and coal offtake surged 23% to 51.3 million tonnes in June 2021 over June 2020.

NMDC lost 0.92% at Rs 182.75. While the state-owned miner's iron ore production climbed 18.25% to 2.98 million tonnes (MT), iron ore sales jumped 28.23% to 3.18 MT in June 2021 over June 2020.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) rose 1.13% to Rs 711. The company said it handled cargo volume of 25.54 MMT in June 2021, registering a growth of 83% on year on year basis. In the container segment, APSEZ handled container volume of 0.67 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) last month, registering a growth of 48% on a YoY basis.

Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers rose 1.36% to Rs 204.40. The company has been awarded an export order for construction and supply of six Patrol Boats, through competitive bidding at the cost of $1,821,798.00, from the Department of Fisheries, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh.

NCC rose 3.44% to Rs 90.20. The company said it has received five new orders totaling to Rs 2,149 crore in June 2021. Out of the total orders, two orders are valued at Rs 1,254 crore pertains to water & environment division, one order of Rs 729 crore pertains to buildings division and one order worth Rs 166 crore pertains to Mining division. These orders are received from PSU/ Central/ State Government agencies and do not include any internal orders.

Global Markets:

European shares advanced while Asian shares ended mostly lower on Friday, 2 July 2021, as investors turned cautious ahead of the U.S. jobs report set to be released later in the day today.

In Europe, German retail sales figures for May and Euro zone's producer prices data for the month of May are due before the bell today.

The S&P 500 reached its sixth consecutive all-time closing high on Thursday, as a new quarter and the second half of the year began with upbeat economic data and a broad-based rally.

The number of Americans applying for unemployment aid fell again last week. The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims dropped by 51,000 to 364,000.

The International Monetary Fund raised its 2021 U.S. growth projection sharply to 7% due to a strong recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and an assumption that much of President Joe Biden's infrastructure and social spending plans will be enacted.

The IMF's latest forecast, marking the fastest U.S. growth pace since 1984, compares with an April projection of 4.6% growth in 2021. The Fund raised its 2022 U.S. GDP growth forecast to 4.9%, up from its previous 3.5% April forecast.

On Thursday, following two days of talks, 130 countries pledged support for the U.S. proposal of a global minimum corporate tax of 15%.

The key equity indices ended with modest losses on Thursday. The Nifty closed below the 15,700 mark. Auto shares witnessed some bit of value buying.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 164.11 points or 0.31% to 52,318.60. The Nifty 50 index lost 41.50 points or 0.26% to 15,680.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.19% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.32%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1653 shares rose and 1548 shares fell. A total of 127 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 18,22,07,431 with 39,47,099 deaths. India reported 5,23,257 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 3,99,459 deaths while 2,94,88,918 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

India added 48,786 new cases of COVID-19 while the national recovery rate improved to 96.97%, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

Cadila Healthcare said it has applied for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to the office of Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for ZyCoV-D - its Plasmid DNA vaccine against COVID-19. The company conducted the largest clinical trial for its COVID-19 vaccine in India so far in over 50 centers.

ZyCoV-D is a plasmid DNA vaccine which when injected produces the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and elicits an immune response mediated by the cellular and humoral arms of the human immune system, which play a vital role in protection from disease as well as viral clearance. Shares of Cadila lost 0.78% to Rs 640.

Economy:

The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 48.1 in June from 50.8 in May, slipped below the critical no-change mark of 50.0 for the first time since July 2020. The latest reading pointed to a renewed deterioration in the health of the sector that was, however, moderate.

India's eight infrastructure sectors grew 16.8% in May because of the low base of last year, while statewide lockdowns because of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic meant the output actually contracted 3.7% from April. Coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity count among the core sectors, which constitute 40% of the Index of Industrial Production.

India's fiscal deficit at the end of May came in at 8.2% of the budgeted estimate for FY22 as against 59% in the same period last year, on the back of better revenues and lower subsidy pay out, according to official data released Wednesday. Fiscal deficit in April-May stood at Rs 1.23 lakh crore, data showed. The budget target set for fiscal deficit in FY2021-22 is Rs 11.40 lakh crore.

India's current account deficit (CAD) for the quarter ended March 2021 widened to 1% of GDP, or $8.1 billion, from 0.3% ($2.2 billion) in the preceding quarter on the back of a higher trade deficit. For the quarter ended March 2020, the current account was in a surplus of $600 million due to lower trade volumes.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that the CAD in Q4FY21 was primarily because of a higher trade deficit and lower net invisible receipts than in the corresponding period of the previous year.

For the full year FY21, the current account balance recorded a surplus of 0.9% of GDP as against a deficit of 0.9% in FY20 on the back of a sharp contraction in the trade deficit to $102.2 billion from $157.5 billion in FY20. This is the first time that the country has recorded an annual current account surplus in 17 years.

India's external debt surged by $11.5 billion year-on-year to $570 billion as of March-end 2021, according to the Reserve Bank of India data released on Wednesday. The external debt to GDP ratio rose to 21.1% as of March-end 2021 from 20.6% a year ago, the data on India's External Debt showed.

June'21 Auto Sales:

Bajaj Auto rose 1.84% to Rs 4209. The two-wheeler maker's total sales surged 24% to 346,136 units in June 2021 as against 278,097 units sold in June 2020. Sequentially, Bajaj's total sales soared 27.32% in June 2021 compared with 271,862 units sold in May 2021.

TVS Motor Company added 0.40% to Rs 622.75. The company registered a growth of 27% in June 2021 with sales of 251,886 units as against sales of 198,387 units in the month of June 2020. Th firm has reduced dealer stocks to support its dealers and channel partners and will produce to maintain adequate inventories for customer demand.

While the company's total two-wheeler sales registered a growth of 25% with sales of 238,092 units, total three-wheeler sales recorded a rise of 89% with sales of 13,794 units in June 2021 over June 2020. The Company's total exports registered sales of 106,246 units in the month of June 2021 as against sales of 53,123 units in June 2020.

Ashok Leyland shed 0.08% to Rs 122.45. The commercial vehicle maker posted a 169% jump in total sales (domestic + exports) to 6,448 units in June 2021 from 2,394 units sold in June 2020. On a sequential basis, Ashok Leyland's total sales rose 101.5% to in June 2021 from 3,199 units sold in May 2021.

Maruti Suzuki India added 1.01% to Rs 7590. The car major recorded total sales of 1,47,368 vehicles in June 2021 as against sales of 57,428 vehicles registered in June 2020. The company had sold 46,555 vehicles in May 2021.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) rose 0.23% to Rs 780.15. M&M announced that its overall auto sales (passenger vehicles + commercial vehicles + exports) in June 2021 stood at 32,964 vehicles. Sequentially, the company's total auto sales jumped 88.9% in June 2021 from 17,447 units sold in May 2021.

Meanwhile, M&M's tractor division sold a total of 48,222 tractor sales in June 2021, up 32% over 36,544 tractors sold in June 2020.

Tata Motors gained 1.49% to Rs 344.60. The company said its total sales in the domestic & international market for Q1 FY22 stood at 1,14,784 vehicles compared with 24,978 units sold during Q1 FY21. The company's total domestic sales jumped 125% to 43,704 units in June 2021 from 19,387 units in June 2020. While commercial vehicles (CV) sales jumped 150% to 22,100 units, total passenger vehicle sales increased by 111% to 24,110 units in June 2021 over June 2020.

Eicher Motors gained 0.33% to Rs 2679. The company said that VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV) sold 2,438 vehicles in June 2021, registering a growth of 79.5% compared with 1,358 vehicles sold in June 2020. VECV's total sales have increased almost twofold from 1,223 units sold in May 2021.

Escorts fell 1.69% to Rs 1200.25. The company's tractor sales rose 15.5% to 12,533 units in June 2021 from 10,851 units in June 2020. Sequentially, Escorts' total tractor sales zoomed 95.1% in June 2021 compared with 6,423 tractors sold May 2021.

VST Tillers Tractors advanced 2.49% to Rs 2057.50. The company's total sales jumped 13.13% to 3,937 units in June 2021 from 3,480 units sold in June 2020. While power tillers sales rose by 12.5% to 3,010 units, total tractor sales were up 15.16% to 927 units in June 2021 over June 2020.

The Nifty Auto index advanced 0.88% to 10,693.80. The index fell 1.02% in the past two sessions.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Spicejet slipped 0.99% to Rs 80.20. On a consolidated basis, the airline net loss declined to Rs 256.98 crore in Q4 FY21 compared with net loss of Rs 816.25 crore in Q4 FY20. Net sales dropped 34.15% to Rs 1,829.77 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20 as business continues to be severely impacted by the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic which has adversely hit operations and travel demand.

Meanwhile, the board has authorised to seek enabling approval of shareholders of the company (which will be valid for 365 days) for raising fresh capital of upto Rs 25,00,00,00,000 through issue of eligible securities to qualified institutional buyers, in accordance with the relevant provisions of applicable law and subject to receipt of applicable regulatory approvals, as may be required.

Vodafone Idea tumbled 8.94% to Rs 9.06. The company recorded a consolidated net loss of Rs 7,022.80 crore in Q4 FY21 as against a net loss of Rs 11,643.5 crore in Q4 FY20. Revenue declined 18.3% to Rs 9,607.6 crore in Q4 FY21 from Rs 11,754.2 crore in Q4 FY20.

The company has registered a decline of 11.8% in revenue on a quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) basis, out of which 9.6% was on account of abolishment of domestic IUC effective from 1 January 2021 and 2.2% was on account of lower number of days in the quarter. Average daily revenue, adjusted for IUC impact was flat Q-o-Q.

Vodafone Idea's subscriber base stood at 267.8 million in Q4FY21, a QoQ decline of 2.0 million. The gross additions continued to improve this quarter as well. Subscriber churn was 3.0% in Q4FY21 as against 2.3% in Q3FY21.

ARPU for Q4 FY21 declined to Rs 107 from Rs 121 in Q3FY21, on account of removal of IUC, adjusting for which ARPU was broadly flat this quarter.

Gross debt (excluding lease liabilities) as of 31 March 2021 was Rs 180310 crore, comprising of deferred spectrum payment obligations of Rs 96270 crore and AGR liability of Rs 60960 crore that are due to the Government and debt from banks and financial institutions of Rs 23080 crore.

The AGR liability is currently taken without considering any impact of corrections which may arise out of the Modification Application filed by the company. Cash & cash equivalents were Rs 350 crore and net debt stood at Rs 179960 crore.

SeQuent Scientific slumped 9.26% to Rs 283.70. On a consolidated basis, the company's net profit jumped 29.08% to Rs 23.52 crore on 20.37% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 361.82 crore in Q4 March 2021 over Q4 March 2020.

Unichem Laboratories gained 3.19% to Rs 327.95. The company said it received tentative approval for ANDA of aripiprazole tablets from the US drug regulator. The drug is indicated for Schizophrenia, Irritability Associated with Autistic Disorder and treatment of Tourette's disorder.

Global Markets:

European shares advanced while most Asian stocks ended lower on Thursday.

China's factory activity expanded at a softer pace in June. The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 51.3 last month from May's 52, marking the 14th month of expansion.

Japanese big manufacturers' business confidence improved in the second quarter to hit a two-and-half-year high, a central bank survey showed. Service-sector sentiment also turned positive for the first time in five quarters, the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) “Tankan” survey showed.

In the US, the S&P 500 nabbed its fifth straight record closing high on Wednesday as investors shrugged off positive economic data and looking toward Friday's highly anticipated employment report.

U.S. private payrolls increased more than expected in June. Private payrolls increased by 692,000 jobs in June. Data for May was revised lower to show 886,000 jobs added instead of the initially reported 978,000.

The domestic equity benchmarks ended with minor losses on Wednesday. The Nifty closed below the 15,750 mark. Pharma shares witnessed some bit of profit taking after a three-day wining streak.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, shed 66.95 points or 0.13% to 52,482.71. The Nifty 50 index lost 26.95 points or 0.17% to 15,721.50.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.03% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 56%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1716 shares rose and 1515 shares fell. A total of 128 shares were unchanged.

Rising number of delta variant COVID-19 cases in Asia and a border escalation situation on the India-Chinese border weighed on investor sentiment.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 18,18,17,890 with 39,37,978 deaths. India reported 5,37,064 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 3,98,454 deaths while 2,94,27,330 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Addressing media in New Delhi last evening, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal the overall COVID-19 recovery rate has reached the mark of 96.9%. He said, there are currently 565 districts in the country where the case positivity rate is less than 5%.

Agarwal said, by last evening, India has crossed the 33-crore mark in vaccination coverage. He also informed that in rural areas, the vaccination coverage from 1st of May to 24th of June is 9.72 crore doses which comprises 56% of the total vaccination while in urban areas the coverage stands at 7.68 crore doses which is 44%.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index shed 0.14% to 14,310.75, amid some bit of profit taking. The index had gained 2.6% in the past three sessions.

Biocon (down 0.83%) and Aurobindo Pharma (down 0.20%) declined while Divi's Labs (up 1.21%), Cadila Healthcare (up 0.75%) and Alkem Laboratories (up 0.16%) advanced.

Cipla (down 0.72%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 0.24%), Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 0.32%) & Torrent Pharmaceuticals (down 0.80%) will collaborate for the clinical trial of investigational oral anti-viral drug Molnupiravir for the treatment of mild COVID-19 in India. The five pharma companies have entered into a collaboration agreement, wherein the parties will jointly sponsor, supervise and monitor the clinical trial in India.

Lupin fell 1.03% to Rs 1,149.20. The drug major bagged tentative approval from the USFDA under the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief for its New Drug Application for Dolutegravir, Lamivudine & Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate tablets and antiretroviral Fixed Dose Combination (FDC).

Earnings Impact:

Manali Petrochemical rose 1.03% to Rs 83 after the company's consolidated net profit surged to Rs 91.38 crore in Q4 FY21 from Rs 14.14 crore in Q4 FY20. Revenues during the quarter increased 55.03% YoY to Rs 369.69 crore.

Finolex Cables added 1.25% to Rs 525.80 after the company's consolidated net profit jumped 159.86% to Rs 167.59 crore on 41.43% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 921.35 crore in Q4 March 2021 over Q4 March 2020.

Revenues from Electrical Cables segment grew 42.89% to Rs 746.70 crore and Communication Cables segment revenue increased by 24.01% to Rs 127.39 crore while that from Copper Rods segment dropped 34.09% to Rs 158.65 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20.

Uflex soared 15.81% to Rs 552.95 after the company's consolidated net profit soared 163% to Rs 264.95 crore on 43.3% increase in net sales to Rs 2,495.14 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20. The company said it witnessed a rise in demand for packaging materials and ancillary businesses while also adding newer clients.

The packaging company's total production volume grew by 33.7% year on year in Q4 FY21 and stood at 126,822 metric tonnes (MT) whereas total sales volume for the quarter clocked in at 136,429 MT, an increase of 43.5% YoY.

Meanwhile, the company announced that it will increase packaging capacity to 7 billion packs per annum by March 2022 and will invest Rs 120 crore for the proposed expansion.

Following stellar numbers from Uflex, shares of other packaging firm namely TCPL Packaging (up 12.44%), Cosmo Films (up 10.10%), Jindal Poly Films (up 5.99%) and Polyplex Corporation (up 4.60%) rallied

EID-Parry (India) lost 4.33% to Rs 426.45 after the company's consolidated net profit tanked 75.4% to Rs 61.61 crore on 7.9% fall in net sales to Rs 3,907.96 crore in Q4 March 2021 over Q4 March 2020.

Triveni Engineering & Industries fell 4.63% to Rs 193.80 after the company's consolidated net profit declined 38% to Rs 85.02 crore on 20% fall in revenue from operations to Rs 1188.07 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20.

Meanwhile, the company's board has approved expansion of distillation capacity of the existing and upcoming distilleries located at Muzaffarnagar (UP), Milak Narayanpur sugar unit at Distt Rampur UP and Sabitgarh Distt Bulandshahar (UP), subject to receipt of necessary statutory clearances.

The capex plan will raise total distillation capacity from 520 to 660 KLPD at an aggregate cost of Rs 100 crore (approx.) through low capital cost incidental expansion / debottlenecking through internal accruals. Such expansion will be completed before the commencement of the Sugar season 2022-23.

Dredging Corporation of India declined 3.60% to Rs 398.95 after the company posted a net loss of Rs 110.81 crore in Q4 FY21, higher than net loss of Rs 4.38 crore registered in Q4 FY20. Net sales declined 6.9% to Rs 211.88 crore in Q4 FY21 from Rs 227.62 crore in Q4 FY20.

KRBL fell 3.03% to Rs 240.40 after the company's consolidated net profit declined by 7.7% to Rs 138.08 crore on 8.3% fall in revenue from operations to Rs 973.97 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20. Revenue from Agri business stood at Rs 956.14 crore (down 8% YoY) while revenue from Energy business segment was at Rs 41.82 crore (down 1.1% YoY) in the fourth quarter.

Vindhya Telelinks jumped 6.90% to Rs 1316.75 after the company's consolidated net profit surged to Rs 116.03 crore in Q4 FY21 as against Rs 38.26 crore in Q4 FY20. Revenue from operations increased by 21.2% YoY to Rs 556.56 crore during the quarter. The revenue from Cable business segment stood at Rs 256.49 crore (up 177.1% YoY) while revenue from engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) segment was at Rs 365.06 crore (down 6% YoY) in the fourth quarter.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Reliance Industries (RIL) added 1.19% to Rs 2112. RIL announced the signing of an agreement with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) for chemical projects at TA`ZIZ in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi. The strategic partnership is for chlor-alkali, ethylene dichloride and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) production facility.

Under the terms of the agreement, TA'ZIZ and Reliance will construct an integrated plant, with capacity to produce 940 thousand tons of chlor-alkali, 1.1 million tons of ethylene dichloride and 360 thousand tons of PVC annually.

Isgec Heavy Engineering jumped 9.89% to Rs 773.65. The company has received order for wet limestone flue gas desulphurisation system and flue gas conditioning system package (FGD-FGC Package) from Odisha Power Generation Corporation. The order is for their 2x660 MW TPPIB Thermal Power Station at Banharpalli, Jharsuguda, Odisha. The scope of work includes design, engineering, procurement, fabrication, construction, installation, commissioning, startup, and testing of FGD- FGC Package.

Global Markets:

European shares fell across the board while most Asian stocks ended higher on Wednesday, 30 June 2021.

China's official manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) grew at a slower clip in June. The reading eased to 50.9 in June from 51 in May.

Japan's industrial output posted the biggest monthly drop in a year in May. Factory output slumped 5.9% in May from the previous month, official data showed on Wednesday, hit by declines in the manufacturing of cars and production machinery to post its largest monthly drop since May last year.

The US stock market drifted further into record heights in a listless day on Tuesday, 29 June 2021, pushing the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite to new records, as an upbeat consumer confidence report of June 2021 bolstered expectations for strong economic growth in the second quarter.

A report released Tuesday morning showed a measure of confidence among U.S. consumers jumped to its highest level in nearly 1-1/2 years in June as growing labor market optimism amid a reopening economy offset concerns about higher inflation. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index raced to a reading of 127.3 this month, the highest level since February 2020, from 120.0 in May.

A separate report showed that home prices across the country rose again in April, continuing their blistering pace. The S&P Case-Shiller national home price index, which covers all nine US census divisions, rose 14.6 per cent year on year in April, data on Tuesday showed. That followed a 13.3% annual jump in March.

The key equity indices ended with modest losses on Tuesday. The Nifty closed a tad below 15,750 mark. Metals, banks, and auto stocks tumbled. The Nifty FMCG index outperformed the other sectoral indices on the NSE.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 185.93 points or 0.35% to 52,549.66. The Nifty 50 index lost 66.25 points or 0.42% to 15,748.45.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.42% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.07%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1658 shares rose and 1577 shares fell. A total of 116 shares were unchanged.

Mixed cues from other Asian stock markets kept sentiment under check. Fears of the third COVID-19 wave also spooked traders.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 18,14,31,123 with 39,29,780 deaths.

India reported 5,52,659 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 3,97,637 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Economy:

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday, 28 June 2021, announced several economic relief measures amid COVID pandemic including eight economic relief measures, of which four are new and one is specific to health infrastructure. Sitharaman announced 1.1 lakh crore rupee loan guarantee scheme for COVID affected sectors. She said, of them Rs 50,000 crore will be for health sector.

The scheme is aimed at upscaling medical infrastructure targeting unreserved areas. Sitharaman said that the guarantee cover will be for expansion and new projects related to medical infrastructure in cities other than eight metropolitan cities.

The Finance Minister also announced Rs 1.5 lakh crore for Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) which was launched as part of Atmanirbhar Bharat Package in May 2020.

In another relief measure, Sitharaman announced Credit Guarantee Scheme which is a new scheme to facilitate loans to 25 lakh people through Micro Finance Institutions (MFI).

In yet another decision related to reviving the tourism sector, Sithraman announced financial support to more than 11 thousand Registered Tourist Guides and Travel and Tourism Stakeholders. The Finance Minister also announced free tourist visa to five lakh tourists.

The total financial implication over it will be Rs 100 crore. Sitharaman announced extension of Atmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana from 30th of June 2021 to 31st of March 2022. Sitharaman also informed about extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, PMGKAY as announced earlier by the government.

TV Narendran, president, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), reportedly said: We are heartened by the targeted interventions announced by the government, with a special focus on health and tourism. The liquidity boosting measures to keep the enterprises afloat in the aftermath of COVID 2.0 in the form of extending loan guarantees to the healthcare, tourism sectors, and small borrowers, in addition to increasing the scope of ECLGS by Rs 1.5 lakh crore are very welcome steps.

Stocks in Spotlight:

NALCO shed 3.69% to Rs 77.10. On a consolidated basis, NALCO's net profit jumped 830.99% to Rs 935.74 crore on 45.74% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 2,821.48 crore in Q4 March 2021 over Q4 March 2020.

Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) lost 0.47% to Rs 1036.90. The company's consolidated net profit jumped 31.2% to Rs 1,621.76 crore on 4.8% rise in net sales to Rs 10,738.74 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20.

Stove Kraft jumped 15.80% to Rs 707. On the BSE, 1.33 lakh shares of the company were traded in the counter so far as against an average trading volume of 35,418 shares in the past three months.

Stove Kraft said that the company is launching or upgrading a new range of home and kitchen appliances products for Onam festival. The products include mixer grinder & wet grinder, pressure cookers, cast lron cookware, sleek glass cooktop 2, 3 and 4 burner, double walled kettle, hand blender, hand mixer, induction stove, desk lamp, turbo food processor, shears and cutting board.

Bajaj Healthcare jumped 12.75% to Rs 812 after the company said that it has moved the Indian Patent Office requesting to grant a compulsory license for manufacturing & supply of COVID-19 drug Baricitinib (API and formulation).

Bharat Forge advanced 1.14% to Rs 746.95. The company, through its wholly owned subsidiary BF Industrial Solutions (BFISL), acquired 100% control of Sanghvi Forging & Engineering (SFEL). The company's resolution plan for Sanghvi Forging was approved by the National Company Law Tribunal Ahmedabad Bench on 26 April 2021 and by the Committee of Creditors (CoC) of SFEL on 17 February 2021.

Sanghvi Forging & Engineering is engaged in the manufacture of open and closed die forging products for the oil & gas, defence, ship building, power & other sectors and is an exporter of products to various foreign countries over the last two decades.

Ramco Systems advanced 3.35% to Rs 617.90 after the IT company announced that it will provide its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software to Aden Ports Development Company (APDC) at their Aden Container Terminal (ACT).

Larsen & Toubro Technology Services (LTTS) added 0.44% to Rs 4141.70. The company announced a strategic partnership to deliver end-to-end 5G automation services with Mavenir, for building the future of networks with cloud-native software that runs on any cloud.

Welspun Corp (WCL) rose 1.59% to Rs 144.10. The company's consolidated net profit jumped 47.40% to Rs 216.82 crore on 35.7% fall in net sales to Rs 1,727.23 crore in Q4 March 2021 over Q4 March 2020. The company's current global order book stood at 528 KMT valued at Rs 4,800 crore (or $663 million).

Federal-Mogul Goetze (India) slumped 4.93% to Rs 329 after the company reported consolidated net loss of Rs 4.21 crore in Q4 FY21 compared with net profit of Rs 3.18 crore in Q4 FY20. Net sales surged 60.7% to Rs 376.32 crore in Q4 FY21 from Rs 234.22 crore in Q4 FY20.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Bank index fell 0.90% to 35,042.30. The index fell 0.01% in the previous session.

Bandhan Bank (down 3.04%), IDFC First Bank (down 1.84%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 1.56%), ICICI Bank (down 1.40%), SBI (down 1.18%), RBL Bank (down 1.16%), Axis Bank (down 1.13%), Punjab National Bank (down 1.04%) and Federal Bank (down 0.92%) declined.

Meanwhile, AU Small Finance Bank (up 2.46%) and IndusInd Bank (up 1.02%) bucked the trend.

Global Markets:

European shares advanced while most Asian stocks ended lower on Tuesday.

Concerns over the rapid spread of the new highly contagious Covid-19 delta variant have dented sentiment in Asia-Pacific, with several countries in the region battling outbreaks.

Global investors are also looking ahead to potentially significant U.S. labor market data later in the week, as markets look to gauge whether the U.S. Federal Reserve will be forced to consider tightening monetary policy sooner than planned. The Labor Department's key jobs report is due Friday.

In Europe, European Central Bank policymakers on Monday began a public discussion about when and how to wind down the massive emergency bond purchase program launched last year to support the euro zone economy through the pandemic.

Euro zone economic sentiment rallied to a 21-year high in June as further reopening boosted optimism, according to the European Commission's monthly sentiment survey. Economic sentiment rose to 117.9 points from 114.5 in May.

Meanwhile euro zone consumer inflation expectations came in at 27.1 in June, up from 22.2 in May, and producer price expectations rose from 29.9 in May to 36.0 in June.

German consumer price index inflation figures are due Tuesday afternoon.

The US stocks were mostly higher on Monday, 28 June 2021, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 settling higher, while the Dow closed below neutral line, after President Joe Biden acknowledged there was no guarantee the infrastructure package would get through Congress.

The White House on Saturday stepped back from a call to link it to a wider tax-and-spending bill - including priorities like climate change mitigation, child care, schools and social services - that is opposed by Republicans. The announcement fanned fears Biden had threatened to veto the new agreement.