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Indian equity benchmarks witnessed volatile trading activity throughout the day and ended in green on Wednesday, bucking the weak trend in global markets, helped by gains in metal and realty stocks. Benchmarks made a cautious start and traded in a narrow range for most part of the day, as traders remained cautious on report that India recorded a spike of 43,957 new infections, taking the total caseload to 30,662,896. Some concern also came as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection slipped below Rs 1 lakh crore in June for the first time in eight months as the second wave of the Covid pandemic and the resultant lockdowns hit businesses and the economy. At Rs 92,849 crore, GST collection is the lowest in 10 months since August 2020, when it was Rs 86,449 crore. Traders also remained worried with private report stated that monsoon rainfall across India has turned a deficit for the first time this year, ending a strong start to the season in June, with 30% of the country seeing deficient rainfall since the start of the season.

However, markets closed the session in green, as traders found some solace with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s statement that India is coming out of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic and it will witness a strong economic recovery and contribute to being an engine of growth for the global economy. He said India will be a more dynamic and friendlier business destination and it will be part of more reliable and resilient supply chains that the post-Covid world requires. Some support also came as government brought Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) under the Finance Ministry in order to better control public sector enterprises as it looks to privatize them. Earlier, the DPE came under the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises. It monitors the performance of PSUs, dividend, capex performance, possibility of buyback of shares, and pay packages of the staff, among others. Traders also took a note of another private report stated that India's hiring rate has recovered moderately from 10 per cent in April to 35 per cent in May 2021, but the aftermath of the second COVID-19 wave has left professionals in India increasingly vulnerable to the economic uncertainty.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday as investors awaited the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve's June meeting for more clues on the U.S. central bank's thinking around rates, bond-purchasing and the economic outlook. European markets were trading higher as yields resumed their slide and oil prices stabilized after the previous session's wild ride.  Back home, sectorally, action was seen in aviation stocks as credit rating agency ICRA in its report said domestic air passenger traffic was back to the growth trajectory in June amid the falling number of COVID-19 cases in the country with around three million passengers flying on local routes in the previous month as against around two million in May. Tyre industry’s stocks too were in watch with ratings agency ICRA’s report stated that after two years of contraction, the Indian tyre industry's demand is poised to grow by 13-15 per cent in the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) segment and 7-9 per cent in the replacement market segment this fiscal.

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 193.58 points or 0.37% to 53,054.76, while the CNX Nifty was up by 61.40 points or 0.39% to 15,879.65.   

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 53,105.41 and 52,751.76, respectively and there were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.   

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.58%, while Small cap index was up by 0.38%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.31%, Realty up by 1.91%, Basic Materials up by 1.42%, Capital Goods up by 0.92% and Finance up by 0.63%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.86%, Energy down by 0.64%, Oil & Gas down by 0.47%, Auto down by 0.31% and Utilities down by 0.23% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 4.38%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.28%, Indusind Bank up by 1.42%, HDFC up by 1.41% and Nestle up by 1.26%. On the flip side, Titan Co down by 2.06%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.81%, Reliance Industries down by 0.74%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.50% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.39% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said India is coming out of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic and it will witness a strong economic recovery and contribute to being an engine of growth for the global economy. He said India will be a more dynamic and friendlier business destination and it will be part of more reliable and resilient supply chains that the post-Covid world requires.

He also said that the Indo-Pacific will be an arena of particular activity and energy, noting that the evolving situation in the region reflected the reality of globalisation, the emergence of multipolarity and the benefits of rebalancing.

Besides, he also listed measures taken by the government to boost growth in areas of agriculture, infrastructure, manufacturing and tourism. He said 'And all of this is encapsulated by a framework that envisages an India of deeper strengths, greater capacities and more responsibility. And not least, in making it much easier to do business.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 15,893.55 and 15,779.70 and there were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index. 

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 4.95%, JSW Steel up by 2.72%, Hindalco up by 2.11%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.02% % and UPL up by 1.95%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 2.04%, ONGC down by 1.15%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.86%, SBI Life Insurance down by 0.80% and Reliance Industries down by 0.60% were the top losers.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 37.24 points or 0.52% to 7,138.12, France’s CAC increased 5.20 points or 0.08% to 6,512.68 and Germany’s DAX increased 136.50 points or 0.88% to 15,647.88.

Asian markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday as investors awaited the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve's June meeting for more clues on the US central bank's monetary policy outlook. Japanese shares ended down with worries over a resurgence of Covid-19 infections ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, while yen's firmness against the US dollar also weighed on markets. South Korean shares ended lower as the country reported its second-highest number of daily new Covid-19 cases ever. South Korean Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said the government would consider tougher social distancing rules if transmissions continued to grow over the next couple of days. However, Chinese shares ended higher after Beijing stepped up supervision of Chinese firms listed overseas.

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