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Indian equity benchmarks trimmed all gains ahead of the closing bell on Friday to end the day flat with negative bias, tracking losses in Metal, Energy and Banking stocks. Benchmarks made positive start and managed to keep heads in green terrain, as traders took some support with India Ratings and Research’s statement that outbound shipments from India, which have been languishing for quite some time, can benefit from the favourable trade growth outlook of 2021 and consolidate further from the level achieved in the first quarter of this fiscal. Some optimism also came in as Chief Economic Advisor K V Subramanian said headline inflation will come down under the 6 percent mark in July itself but will stay at an elevated level of over 5 percent for some time. Sentiments remained positive with Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra’s statement that the real estate sector which has been stressed for quite some time now has started showing signs of improvement since the first quarter of the current fiscal (Q1FY22) and its contribution to the country's Gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to reach 10 percent by 2025 from the current 7 percent.

Markets added some more points in late afternoon session taking support from private report stated that the easing of restrictions on economic activity coupled with the increasing focus on ramping up operations and sales by businesses is having a positive impact on the hiring of freshers. However, key indices erased gains in the last 30 minutes of trade taking cues from weak European markets. Some concern also came as 3 southern states report spike in new infections. Kerala reported more than 22,000 fresh Covid-19 cases for the third day straight: the spike prompting the state to announce a weekend lockdown. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu recorded a rise in new infections on Thursday as well, taking India’s daily case count to nearly 45,000, the highest in 22 days. Meanwhile, Parliament informed that around 1.09 crore MSME borrowers have been provided with guarantee support of Rs 1.65 lakh crore under Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS).

On the global front, Asian markets settled lower on Friday as concerns about the fast-spreading Delta variant and regulatory actions in China outweighed optimism around corporate earnings. European markets were trading mostly in red despite the preliminary flash estimate published by Eurostat showed the euro area economy recovered in the second quarter. Gross domestic product expanded 2 percent sequentially, reversing the 0.3 percent drop posted in the preceding period. The growth rate was bigger than the expected 1.5 percent. Back home, on the sectoral front, oil and gas sector stocks were in focus as the government permitted 100 per cent foreign investment under the automatic route in oil and gas PSUs which have received in-principle approval for strategic disinvestment. Auto component industry’s stocks were in focus as ICRA said the Indian auto component industry is expected to report 20 to 23 per cent revenue growth in FY2022, supported by strong exports demand, and recovery in domestic original equipment and aftermarket segments.

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 66.23 points or 0.13% to 52,586.84, while the CNX Nifty was down by 15.40 points or 0.10% to 15,763.05.    

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 52,910.23 and 52,533.91, respectively and there were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.52%, while Small cap index was up by 0.69%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 2.25%, Utilities up by 0.93%, Auto up by 0.86%, Industrials up by 0.66%, Consumer Durables up by 0.51% while, Metal down by 1.00%, Energy down by 0.77%, Bankex down by 0.36%, Telecom down by 0.32%, Oil & Gas down by 0.18% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 10.06%, Tech Mahindra up by 7.24%, Power Grid Corporation up by 2.18%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.18% and HCL Technologies up by 1.77%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 2.59%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.53%, SBI down by 2.28%, Tata Steel down by 1.73% and Titan Company down by 1.47% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra has said that the real estate sector which has been stressed for quite some time now has started showing signs of improvement since the first quarter of the current fiscal (Q1FY22) and its contribution to the country's Gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to reach 10 percent by 2025 from the current 7 percent.

The Secretary has stated that the sector in India is set to be valued at $1 trillion in the next few years as the country aims at $5 trillion economy. He also said that the National Urban Digital Mission has taken up steps to connect nearly 2,535 cities across India to improve connectivity.

Mishra said that construction of 725 kilometres of metro railway tracks has been completed while 1,060 kilometres of tracks are being constructed in 18 cities. He noted that one lakh houses in urban areas were constructed last year to provide rental accommodation to poor street vendors and migrant workers.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 15,862.80 and 15,744.85 and there were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.   

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 10.04%, Tech Mahindra up by 7.08%, Cipla up by 4.24%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 2.23% and Shree Cement up by 2.21%.  On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 2.63%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.46%, Hindalco down by 2.25%, SBI down by 2.21% and UPL down by 1.79% were the top losers.

European markets were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 62.63 points or 0.88% to 7,015.79, France’s CAC fell 16.50 points or 0.25% to 6,617.27 and Germany’s DAX was down by 135.28 points or 0.86% to 15,505.19.

Asian markets settled lower on Friday despite optimism around corporate earnings. Chinese shares declined as lingering investor concerns over regulatory crackdowns outweighed China’s attempts to calm markets. Japanese shares ended lower amid uncertainty over Japan's economic rebound following nationwide Covid-19 infection cases reached 10,693 on Thursday. Meanwhile, Japan decided to expand states of emergency to three prefectures near Olympic host Tokyo and the western prefecture of Osaka to contain the virus.

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