Markets close with minor losses; Sensex falls 66 points & Nifty settles at 15,763

Domestic equity markets closed with minor loss on Friday, July 30, 2021, as domestic equities witnessed sharp profit booking at the fag end of the session. The S&P BSE Sensex fell 66.23 points or 0.13 per cent to close at 52,586.84. The Nifty 50 index closed 15.40 points or 0.10 per cent lower at 15,763.05. The Nifty Bank lost 107.15 points or 0.31 per cent to end at 34,584.35.

The broader markets outperformed with the S&P BSE MidCap closed 0.52 per cent higher and the S&P BSE SmallCap gained 0.69 per cent.

Buyers outnumbered the sellers. On the BSE, 1782 shares rose and 1449 shares fell. On the Nifty 50 index on NSE, 27 shares rose and 23 shares declined. The top five gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma (up 10.04 per cent), Tech Mahindra (up 7.08 per cent), Cipla (up 4.24 per cent), Adani Ports (up 2.33 per cent) and Shree Cement (up 2.21 per cent). The top five losers were Bajaj Finance (down 2.63 per cent), Bajaj Finserv (down 2.46 per cent), Hindalco (down 2.25 per cent), SBI (down 2.12 per cent) and UPL (down 1.79 per cent).

COVID-19 Update

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 19,66,31,596 with 41,99,002 deaths. India reported 4,05,155 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,23,217 deaths while 3,07,43,972 patients have been discharged.

Economy

The RBI's MPC meeting is scheduled for the coming week however the expectation is that the RBI too, just like the Fed, will not hamper the repo rates and will continue supporting impacted sectors with cheaper credit.

The French and Spanish economies returned to growth in the second quarter at a pace that is set to accelerate over the summer as Europe continues with plans to lift COVID-19 restrictions. Output in France, the euro area's second-largest economy, rose 0.9 per cent in the three months ending June despite a strict lockdown in April to contain a resurgence of cases and relieve pressure on hospitals. Economists expected 0.8 per cent GDP growth in the period. In Spain, the economy grew 2.8 per cent, significantly beating estimates.

Separate reports later on Friday are expected to show the euro area as a whole recorded a much stronger performance as other member countries lifted restrictions. France is set to catch up in the third quarter with real-time indicators and confidence surveys showing the economy has enough vim to meet the government's forecast of 6 per cent growth this year. In Spain, growth was buoyed by a robust rebound in household consumption and a recovery in the services sector. The economy has been in recovery mode since the second quarter as the country rebounds from the euro area's deepest contraction in 2020. GDP contracted nearly 11 per cent last year in part because of the country's reliance on the battered tourism industry.