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Local equity benchmarks managed to keep their head above water in afternoon deals with both Sensex and Nifty were trading above 54,300 and 16,200 marks, respectively. Traders took some solace as foreign portfolio investors (FPI) have made a comeback to India's equities segment and made a net investment of Rs 975 crore in the first week of August. The FPIs have made a comeback after a net outflow of Rs 11,308 crore in July. On the sectoral front, auto stocks catch speed as FADA’s report states that automobile registrations across the country rose by 34 per cent last month as compared to July last year with passenger vehicles showing 63 per cent hike. July continued to see robust recovery in auto retails as demand across all categories remained high after states eased Covid-led lockdowns. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower amid continued concerns about the rapid spread of the highly contagious coronavirus variants in the region.

Back home, selling pressure in Telecom, Oil & Gas and Energy stocks kept a lid on the gains, while buying in Bankex, IT and FMCG stocks supported the markets. Among blue chip stocks, Mahindra & Mahindra was top gainer trading up by around 3%, while Bharti Airtel was top loser down by around 2%.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 54314.18, up by 36.46 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 54310.15 and 54584.73. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.81%, while Small cap index was down by 0.60%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.43%, IT up by 0.15%, FMCG up by 0.07%, TECK up by 0.06% and Consumer Durables was up by 0.04%, while Telecom down by 1.23%, Oil & Gas down by 1.04%, Energy down by 0.97%, Utilities down by 0.93% and Power was down by 0.87% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.53%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.65%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.50%, Axis Bank up by 1.43% and Indusind Bank was up by 1.06%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.39%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.99%, Reliance Industries down by 0.96%, HDFC down by 0.66% and Tata Steel was  down by 0.38% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Steel Faggan Singh Kulaste has said that the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for specialty steel will prove to be a ‘game changer’ for the industry as the move is expected to increase the output of value-added steel and see introduction of new age technologies in the sector.

On the issues being faced by the domestic steel sector, Kulaste said the challenge is to develop Indian steel sector as more efficient, competitive and to be capable of producing quality steel including value-added steel as also enhance per capita steel consumption. Further, he said other focus areas are availability of raw material at competitive price and to be a world leader in energy efficiency and sustainability. He also said that a vibrant domestic steel industry is important for a developing economy as it is a critical input across major sectors such as construction, infrastructure, automotive, capital goods, defence, rail etc. Launching of game changer PLI scheme will increase domestic production of value-added steel and herald the introduction of new technologies.

On July 22, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the Rs 6,322-crore PLI scheme to boost production of specialty steel in India, attract fresh investments and create new job opportunities in the sector. The scheme aims to attract an additional investment of about Rs 40,000 crore and lead to a capacity addition of 25 million tonnes (MT), besides generating 5.25 lakh job opportunities.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16,242.95, up by 4.75 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 16238.50 and 16320.75. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.41%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.59%, Axis Bank up by 1.44%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.25% and Britannia Inds up by 1.05%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.41%, SBI Life Insuran down by 1.36%, Tata Consumer Produc down by 1.20%, Coal India down by 1.20% and Bajaj Finance down by 1.10% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted dropped 41.13 points or 0.23% to 17,485.15, KOSPI fell 7.20 points or 0.22% to 3,263.16 and Jakarta Composite was down by 8.87 points or 0.14% to 6,194.56. On the other hand, Shanghai Composite gained 34.87 points or 1.01% to 3,493.10 and Hang Seng was up by 168.57 points or 0.64% to 26,347.97.

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