Markets close at fresh closing peaks; Sensex adds 123 points & Nifty closes at 16,295

Domestic stock markets extended their winning run for the fourth consecutive session on Thursday, August 5, 2021. The headline indices, S&P BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 marked another record closing high today and they stuck fresh highs of 54,717.24 and 16,349.45, respectively in intraday trade.

The BSE barometer S&P Sensex surged 123.07 points or 0.23 per cent to close at 54,492.84. The Nifty 50 index rose 35.80 points or 0.22 per cent to end at 16,294.60. On similar lines, the Nifty Bank ended 193.30 points or 0.54 per cent down at 35,834.75 levels.

The broader markets ended mixed. The BSE MidCap rose 0.10 per cent but the BSE SmallCap index slipped 0.43 per cent.

Sellers outnumbered the buyers. On the BSE, 1,202 shares rose and 2,023 shares fell. On the Nifty 50 index at the NSE, 26 shares rose and 24 shares fell. The top five gainers on Nifty 50 were Bharti Airtel (up 3.86 per cent), Eicher Motors (up 3.45 per cent), ITC (up 3.07 per cent), Tech Mahindra (up 2.75 per cent), and Tata Steel (up 2.32 per cent). The top five losers were State Bank of India (down 3.28 per cent), IndusInd Bank (down 2.33 per cent), ICICI Bank (down 1.84 per cent), Bajaj Finance (down 1.75 per cent), and Bajaj Finserv (down 1.30 per cent).

COVID-19 update

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide were at 20,02,42,092 with 42,56,850 deaths. India reported 4,11,076 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,26,290 deaths while 3,09,74,748 patients have been discharged, data showed.

Economy

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is scheduled to announce its bi-monthly policy review tomorrow, i.e., on August 6, 2021, at the end of the three-day meeting held from August 4-6, 2021. As per reports, the RBI is likely to maintain the status quo on interest rates. The MPC, a six-member team headed by RBI governor Shaktikanta Das, had left the rates unchanged last time, citing concerns about inflation.

Fed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida said the Fed is on track for lift-off in interest rates in 2023 and an announcement later this year on paring bond purchases. Mr Clarida painted an upbeat picture of the outlook while acknowledging that the rapid spread of the delta virus strain poses a downside risk. A measure of US services industry activity jumped to a record high in July.

The Institute for Supply Management said on Wednesday its non-manufacturing activity index raced to 64.1 last month, the highest reading in the series' history, from 60.1 in June. The ADP private payroll survey showed a gain of 330,000 jobs for July. The Labour Department's official jobs report, which typically has more impact on investors, will be released on Friday.