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Indian equity benchmarks extended their northward journey in afternoon deals with frontline gauges recapturing their crucial 52,800 (Sensex) and 15,800 (Nifty) levels. Sentiments were upbeat as wholesale price-based inflation eased marginally to 12.07 per cent in June as crude oil and food items witnessed some softening in prices. However, WPI inflation remained in double digit for the third consecutive month in June, mainly due to a low base of last year. WPI inflation was (-) 1.81 per cent, in June 2020. Additional support also came with report that the government may extend the scheme for investment promotion 2017-20, with an aim to attract investors and promote economic growth of the country.

On the global front, all Asian markets were under pressure at this point of time as the risk aversion followed by the report that US inflation continued to surge in month of June at the fastest pace in 13 years and on lingering concerns over the spread of highly contagious delta variant of corona virus. Back home, apart from the capital markets there was buzz from the primary markets too as Zomato's much-awaited IPO opened for subscription today. The online food delivery and restaurant discovery platform raised Rs 4,197 crore from 186 anchor investors ahead of IPO opening.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52870.22, up by 100.49 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 52611.97 and 52874.77. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.23%, while Small cap index was up by 0.49%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.61%, TECK up by 1.33%, Capital Goods up by 1.21%, Industrials up by 0.56% was Healthcare was up by 0.34%, while Realty down by 0.77%, Energy down by 0.40%, Oil & Gas down by 0.40%, Auto down by 0.28% and FMCG was down by 0.19% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 2.36%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.32%, HCL Tech up by 1.75%, Infosys up by 1.27% and ITC was up by 0.87%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.27%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.83%, Nestle down by 0.62%, HDFC down by 0.60% and Reliance Industries was down by 0.45% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Secretary T V Somanathan has underlined the need for improving the fiscal position of the government through reforms in farm, food and fertilizer subsidies so that additional funds can be generated for development of infrastructure and education system. He said that farm, food and fertilizer reforms are administratively easy but politically difficult in view of the ramifications.

On the other hand, Somanathan said reforms in education and infrastructure are easy to announce but difficult to implement administratively as cooperation of states and other stakeholders becomes necessary. On financial sector reforms, he said the government has already announced privatisation of two public sector banks and one public sector general insurance company. He said most of the public sector banks would be privatised eventually as announced by the government.

With regard to nagging issues related to Goods and Services Tax (GST), Finance Secretary said many of the glitches have been fixed. He expressed hope that the revenue collection from GST would see improvement going forward.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15843.40, up by 31.05 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 15764.20 and 15844.60. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 4.51%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.36%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.29%, HCL Tech up by 1.84% and Infosys was up by 1.19%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.39%, UPL down by 1.03%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.89%, Grasim Industries down by 0.68% and Nestle was down by 0.67% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower, KOSPI fell 6.57 points or 0.2% to 3,264.81, Nikkei 225 slipped 109.75 points or 0.38% to 28,608.49, Shanghai Composite declined 36.11 points or 1.01% to 3,530.41, Taiwan Weighted dropped 1.77 points or 0.01% to 17,845.75, Straits Times trembled 5.05 points or 0.16% to 3,161.76, Hang Seng decreased 196.55 points or 0.7% to 27,766.86 and Jakarta Composite was down by 52.35 points or 0.87% to 5,959.68.

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