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Indian equity benchmarks ended in red on Monday led by losses in index heavyweights Titan Company, TCS, HCL Technologies and Reliance Industries. The benchmarks opened higher, as the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) is expecting India’s gross domestic product (GDP) to grow 11.5 percent in Q1 (first quarter) and 8.4-10.1 per cent for the whole year 2021-22. According to NCAER's estimates, the economic growth had contracted by 7.3 percent during 2020-21. It has also pitched for strong fiscal support to push economic growth. However, key gauges gave up gains mirroring cautious trend in other Asian markets as a spike in coronavirus cases across the region over the weekend hurt investor sentiment. Some cautiousness came in as the government's total liabilities stood at Rs 116.21 lakh crore at the end of March 2021, up 6.36 per cent from the previous quarter. The total liabilities (including liabilities under the Public Account) of the government were Rs 109.26 lakh crore at end-December 2020. Also, RBI data showed that sliding from a lifetime high, India's forex reserves declined by $4.148 billion to reach $603.933 billion for the week ended June 18 due to a fall in gold and currency assets.

Markets continued their lackluster trade in late afternoon session, as India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) said its earlier estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 10.1 per cent for the current financial year (FY22) is unlikely to hold due to the speed and scale of Covid 2.0. It now expects GDP growth to come in at 9.6 per cent in FY22. This is however contingent upon India vaccinating its entire adult population by December 31. Some concern also came with S&P Global Ratings stating the Covid pandemic could worsen structural deficits and indebtedness of states, despite a likely rebound in the economy over the next 12-24 months. Meanwhile, the government has extended the second phase of FAME India scheme by two years till March 31, 2024, for faster adoption of electric mobility and development of its manufacturing ecosystem in the country.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly lower on Monday, while European markets were trading lower as inflation continued to be a worry and a spike in coronavirus cases across several markets in the region over the weekend led to lockdowns and restrictions in some areas. Traders also kept a close eye on Washington after President Joe Biden acknowledged there was no guarantee the infrastructure package would get through Congress. Back home, on the sectoral front, there was some reaction in renewable energy sector stocks after Power Minister R K Singh said that as much as $70 billion (about Rs 5.2 lakh crore) has been invested in renewable energy across the country in the past seven years. Infrastructure stocks was in focus with a private report that as many as 478 infrastructure projects, each worth Rs 150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns totalling more than Rs 4.4 lakh crore.

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 189.45 points or 0.36% to 52,735.59, while the CNX Nifty was down by 45.65 points or 0.29% to 15,814.70. 

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 53,126.73 and 52,673.50, respectively and there were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.  

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.40%, while Small cap index was up by 0.46%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.27%, Healthcare up by 1.05%, Basic Materials up by 0.76%, PSU up by 0.42%, Utilities up by 0.31% while, Energy down by 0.80%, Capital Goods down by 0.56%, TECK down by 0.47%, IT down by 0.44% and Telecom down by 0.44% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.75%, Tata Steel up by 1.64%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.43%, Sun Pharma up by 0.60% and Hindustan Unilever up by 0.60%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 1.56%, TCS down by 1.33%, HCL Technologies down by 1.00%, Reliance Industries down by 0.87% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.87% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Public Debt Management report for the January-March 2021 quarter, released by the finance ministry, has said the government's total liabilities stood at Rs 116.21 lakh crore at the end of March 2021, up 6.36 per cent from the previous quarter. The total liabilities (including liabilities under the 'Public Account') of the government were Rs 109.26 lakh crore at end-December 2020.

It stated Public debt accounted for 88.10 per cent of total outstanding liabilities at end-March 2021. Nearly 29.33 per cent of the outstanding dated securities had a residual maturity of less than 5 years. The ownership pattern shows the share of commercial banks at 37.8 per cent and 25.3 per cent for insurance companies. It mentioned the yields on Government securities hardened in the secondary market due to increase in supply of G-secs during the quarter. Further, hardening of yields was more on the short end of curve due to increase in weekly borrowing and also announcement of resumption of normal liquidity operations by the Reserve Bank.

However, the yields were supported by decision of the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee meeting held on February 5, 2021, wherein it kept the policy repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent and reiterated to continue with the accommodative stance. During January-March quarter of 2020-21, the central government issued dated securities worth Rs 3,20,349 crore as against Rs 76,000 crore in the year-ago period, while repayments were at Rs 29,145 crore.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 15,915.65 and 15,792.15 and there were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index. 

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.80%, Hindalco up by 1.74%, Divi's Lab up by 1.73%, Tata Steel up by 1.69%, Divi's Lab up by 1.55% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.43%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 4.13%, Titan Company down by 1.32%, TCS down by 1.15%, Shree Cement down by 1.15% and Coal India down by 1.11% were the top losers.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 43.31 points or 0.61% to 7,092.76, France’s CAC fell 39.22 points or 0.59% to 6,583.65 and Germany’s DAX was down by 54.84 points or 0.35% to 15,553.13.

Asian markets ended mostly lower on Monday as coronavirus cases spiked across Asia, while inflation worries also added pressure on market sentiments. Japanese shares ended marginally lower as investors cautious ahead of key US economic data due later in the week, including the June jobs report. Hong Kong shares dipped as trading resumed following a morning suspension due to a severe weather warning. Further, Chinese shares declined after data showed that China's industrial profits slowed again in May due to high base effects and increases in the costs of production.

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