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Indian equity benchmarks ended lower for second straight session on Friday, tracking the decline in global peers amid concerns that the spread of covid variants could disrupt economic recovery. The benchmarks opened lower and traded with a negative bias throughout the day, as traders got anxious with a private report that southwest monsoon has practically stalled over most parts of the country since June 19. This has not only delayed its progress over north India but has also badly impacted the sowing of the kharif crop. Some concern also came amid reports that inflows into equity mutual funds dropped sharply by 40 per cent to Rs 5,988 crore in June on profit booking by investors as stock markets witnessed sharp rallies in recent times. In comparison, the equity mutual funds saw a net inflow to the tune of Rs 10,083 crore in May, the highest fund infusion in 14 months, data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India showed on Thursday.

Benchmarks continued their weak trade in afternoon session, as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) stood as net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 554.92 crore on Thursday, as per provisional exchange data. Traders also got worried after Care Ratings’ report said that significant rise in prices of petrol and diesel in many Indian states, commodities such as edible oils, foodgrain, vegetables are seeing some inflation too. High petrol and diesel prices impact Wholesale Price Index (WPI) and Consumer Price Index (CPI), pushing up commodity prices, and that can be more damaging. The impact of fuel price hike is such that it percolates into prices of other goods by way of transport, logistics and freight costs. However, markets recouped some losses ahead of the closing bell as some support came from Industry chamber PHDCCI’s statement that the gradual receding of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has created scope for the economy to recover from the daunting impact witnessed in April and May 2021.

On the global front, Asian markets settled mostly lower on Friday following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on downbeat US labor data and continued slump in U.S. treasury yields. Traders remain concerns about the outlook for the global economy amid considerable weakness in most markets due to the fresh wave of the highly infectious coronavirus variant. European markets were trading higher as Treasuries halted an eight-day rally fueled by concerns about global growth amid the spread of Covid-19 variants. Back home, on the sectoral front, power industry stocks were in limelight with report that power demand in the country touched an all-time high and crossed the 200 GW mark amid many states witnessing high temperatures due to delayed monsoon, and easing of coronavirus-related restrictions. Banking stocks too were in action as the Reserve Bank asked banks and financial institutions to use any widely accepted alternative reference rate (AAR) instead of LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rates) as the reference rate for entering into new financial contracts.

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 182.75 points or 0.35% to 52,386.19, while the CNX Nifty was down by 38.10 points or 0.24% to 15,689.80.    

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 52,555.73 and 52,228.01, respectively and there were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.   

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.61%, while Small cap index was up by 0.39%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.38%, Metal up by 2.14%, Telecom up by 1.71%, Basic Materials up by 1.18% and Healthcare up by 0.57%, while Energy down by 0.71%, Bankex down by 0.60%, Oil & Gas down by 0.49%, IT down by 0.35% and Capital Goods down by 0.31% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 4.16%, Bajaj Finserv up by 3.55%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.05%, NTPC up by 0.38% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.33%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 1.99%, TCS down by 1.52%, HDFC Bank down by 1.08%, Axis Bank down by 0.98% and Reliance Industries down by 0.94% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, industry chamber PHDCCI said that the gradual receding of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has created scope for the economy to recover from the daunting impact witnessed in April and May 2021.

It added at this juncture, there is a need to fuel the drivers of household consumption and private investments to enhance the aggregate demand in the economy as it will have an accelerated effect on the expansion of capital investments in the country. It said the Phdcci Economy GPS index has increased to 110.3 for June 2021 from the nine months low of 91.5 for the month of May 2021.

PHDCCI President Sanjay Aggarwal said on the back of declining new coronavirus cases, gradual unlocking in various parts of the country, and calibrated economic reforms announced by the government, the economic recovery has resumed once again in the country.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 15,730.85 and 15,632.75 and there were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.  

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 4.20%, Bajaj Finserv up by 3.58%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 2.29%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.13% and Divi's Laboratories 2.10%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 1.92%, TCS down by 1.43%, HDFC Bank down by 1.06%, Reliance Industries down by 0.99% and Axis Bank down by 0.93% were the top losers.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 53.15 points or 0.76% to 7,083.81, France’s CAC increased 112.08 points or 1.75% to 6,508.81 and Germany’s DAX increased 139.73 points or 0.91% to 15,560.37.

Asian markets settled mostly lower on Friday, tracking negative close on the Wall Street overnight on worries about the rapid spread of delta variant of Covid-19 across the world and as disappointing jobless claims data added to concerns about the US economic outlook. Japanese shares ended lower on concerns over a slowing economic recovery after the country declared a state of emergency in Tokyo to contain a resurgence of a fresh wave of Covid-19 infections. Chinese shares ended lower as major US shares index removed more Chinese companies from its index after an updated US executive order barring domestic investment in firms with alleged ties to China's military.

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