Domestic indices ended with decent gains; Sensex rises 257 points & Nifty closed above 14,800 mark

Domestic stock markets closed with more than a half per cent gain on Friday, May 7, 2021. The S&P BSE Sensex closed 256.71 points or 0.52 per cent higher at 49,206.47. The Nifty 50 index gained 98.35 points or 0.67 per cent and closed at 14,823.15. The Nifty Bank rose 76.70 points or 0.23 per cent to settle at 32,904.50.

Trading in the broader markets was mixed. The S&P BSE MidCap index dipped 0.04 per cent while the SmallCap index ended 0.15 per cent higher.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1,692 shares rose and 1,319 shares fell. On the Nifty 50 index on NSE, 33 shares advanced and 17 shares fell. The top five gainers on Nifty 50 were Tata Steel (up 7.51 per cent), Hindalco (up 3.89 per cent), JSW Steel (up 3.38 per cent), Adani Ports (up 3.26 per cent) and SBI Life (up 3.05 per cent). The top five losers were Tata Consumers (down 3.54 per cent), Hero MotoCorp (down 2 per cent), Bajaj Auto (down 1.83 per cent), Eicher Motors (down 1.18 per cent) and UPL (down 0.87 per cent).

COVID-19 update

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide were at 15,60,80,676 with 32,56,425 deaths. India reported 36,45,164 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 2,34,083 deaths while 1,76,12,351 patients have been discharged, data showed.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits in the US

A US Labour Department report showed initial claims for state unemployment benefits totalled a seasonally adjusted 498,000 for the week ended May 1, 2021, compared with 590,000 in the prior week. US private firms added 742,000 jobs in April, payrolls firm ADP said Wednesday, marking a fourth straight monthly gain.

Japan's services sector activity

Japan's services sector activity contracted in April. The final au Jibun Bank Japan Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to a seasonally adjusted 49.5 from the prior month's 48.3, the slowest pace of activity decline in the current 15-month run of contractionary PMIs.

IMF's forecast for India

The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday the recent jump in Covid-19 cases in India posed downside risks to the Fund's April forecast for 12.5% growth in India's economic output in FY21 and FY22.