Markets close with decent gains; Sensex gains 125 points & Nifty ends at 16,2658

Domestic equity benchmarks managed to end with decent gains on Monday, August 9, 2021. The S&P BSE Sensex advanced 125.13 points or 0.23 per cent to 54,402.85. The Nifty 50 index added 20.05 points to close at 16,258.25. The Nifty Bank index gained 219.70 points or 0.61 per cent and close at 36,028.95.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap lost 1.07 per cent and SmallCap indices declined nearly 0.72 per cent each.

Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 1291 shares rose and 2045 shares fell. On the Nifty 50 index at the NSE, 23 shares rose and 27 shares fell. The top five gainers on Nifty 50 were M&M (up 2.23 per cent), Tech Mahindra (up 1.93 per cent), Axis Bank (up 1.86 per cent), Bajaj Finserv (up 1.57 per cent) and IndusInd Bank (up 1.31 per cent). The top five losers were Tata Consumer (down 1.98 per cent), Coal India (down 1.85 per cent), Adani Ports (down 1.67 per cent), Bharti Airtel (down 1.63 per cent) and SBI Life (down 1.63 per cent).

Markets in Japan and Singapore were closed for public holidays.

COVID-19 update

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide were at 20,27,31,589 with 42,94,400 deaths. India reported 4,02,188 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,28,309 deaths while 3,11,39,457 patients have been discharged, data showed.

Economy

China's export growth unexpectedly slowed in July while imports also lost momentum. Exports rose 19.3 per cent from a year ago, compared with a 32.2 per cent gain in June and imports rose 28.1 per cent from a year earlier.

In the US, hiring surged in July as American employers added 943,000 jobs. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.4 per cent another sign that the US economy continues to bounce back with surprising vigour from last year's Coronavirus shutdown.