Sensex and Nifty close almost flat amid mixed global cues; Nifty closes below 15,700

The Sensex and the Nifty today closed almost flat amid mixed global cues. In a volatile session, both stocks ended divergently. The BSE Sensex fell 13.50 points, or 0.03 per cent to finish at 52,372.69 while the NSE Nifty added 2.80 points, or 0.02 per cent, to close at 15,692.60. The Nifty Bank index gained 126.95 points, or 0.36 per cent, to end higher at 35,198.90.

In the broader market, S&P BSE MidCap rose 0.40 per cent while S&P BSE SmallCaop closed 0.75 per cent higher.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 2060 shares rose and 1260 shares fell. On the Nifty 50 index on NSE, 27 shares advanced and 22 shares fell while one share remains unchanged. The top five gainer stocks on Nifty 50 were UltraTech Cement (up 2.47 per cent), Grasim (up 2.34 per cent), Shree Cement (up 1.89 per cent), JSW Steel (up 1.58 per cent), and SBI Life (up 1.56 per cent). The top five losers were Adani Ports (down 1.45 per cent), BPCL (down1.36 per cent), Bharti Airtel (down 1.24 per cent), Tata Steel (down 1.24 per cent), Tata Steel (down 1.16 per cent) and Infosys (down 1.02 per cent).

COVID-19 update

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide were at 18,68,05,301 with 40,31,711 deaths. India reported 4,50,899 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,08,764 deaths while 3,00,14,713 patients have been discharged, data showed.

Economy

The industrial production and manufacturing production data for May will be released today. Industrial production in India surged 134.4 per cent year-on-year in April of 2021 due to a low base effect from last year.

China's central bank on Friday announced 50 basis points cut in its reserve requirement ratio for all banks, effective from July. The RRR represents the amount of money that banks must hold in their coffers as a proportion of their total deposits. A lowering of that required amount will increase the supply of money that banks can lend to businesses and individua