Markets ended higher; Sensex jumps 318 points & Nifty ends at 16,364

The domestic equity benchmarks ended with robust gains on Thursday, August 21, 2021, the day of weekly F&O expiry amid buying in IT and PSU banks. The S&P BSE Sensex advanced 318.05 points or 0.58 per cent to end at 54,843.98. The Nifty 50 index gained 82.15 points or 0.50 per cent at 16,364.40. The Nifty Bank index added 130.65 points or 0.36 per cent to close at 35,937.05.

In the broader markets, the S&P BSE MidCap gained 1.07 per cent and S&P BSE SmallCap rose 1.97 per cent.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 2268 shares rose and 895 shares fell. On the Nifty 50 index at the NSE, 32 shares rose and 18 shares fell. The top five gainers on Nifty were Power Grid (up 5.95 per cent), Tech Mahindra (up 4.71 per cent), Tata Motors (up 3.86 per cent), Larsen & Turbo (up 2.57 per cent) and HCL Technologies (up 2.38 per cent). The top five losers were Eicher Motors (down 4.09 per cent), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 0.78 per cent), Cipla (down 0.59 per cent), IOC (down 0.57 per cent) and ONGC (down 0.51 per cent).

COVID-19 Update

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide were at 20,47,35,347 with 43,24,587 deaths. India reported 3,87,987 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,29,669 deaths while 3,12,60,050 patients have been discharged, data showed.

Economy

Japanese wholesale prices rose in July at their fastest annual pace in 13 years. The corporate goods price index (CGPI), which measures the price companies charge each other for their goods and services, rose 5.6 per cent in July 2021 from a year earlier, Bank of Japan data showed.

In Australia, Melbourne extended its lockdown by another week as it struggles to contain the highly infectious delta variant. US consumer price increases slowed in July 2021. The consumer price index increased 0.5 per cent last month after climbing 0.9 per cent in June 2021, the Labour Department said on Wednesday. In the 12 months through July 2021, the CPI advanced 5.4 per cent. The drop in the month-to-month inflation rate was the largest in 15 months.

The UK economy grew more than expected in June as lighter Coronavirus restrictions led to renewed strength in the nation's dominant services. GDP rose 1 per cent, more than the 0.8 per cent predicted by economists, data showed.