Share Market: Market rises for 4th day; BSE gains 296 points; Nifty closes above 14,900

Share Market News Today: Rising for the fourth straight session, the domestic equity markets closed with a gain of more than half a per cent on Monday, May 10, 2021. The S&P BSE Sensex gained 295.94 points or 0.60 per cent to end at 49,502.41. The Nifty 50 index rose 119.20 points or 0.80 per cent to close higher at 14,942.35, while the Nifty Bank index rose 237.90 points or 0.72 per cent to 33,142.40.

All the sectoral indices on the NSE ended in the green wherein metals and pharma were the top gainers. In the broader market, outperforming Sensex, the BSE Mid-cap rose 0.97 per cent and the Small-cap index jumped nearly 0.94 per cent.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,079 shares rose and 1027 shares fell. On the NSE, 38 shares advanced and 12 shares declined on the Nifty 50 index. The top five gainers on Nifty were Coal India (up 8.22 per cent), UPL (up 8.02 per cent), Hindalco (up 6.21 per cent), IOC (up 4.75 per cent) and Larsen & Turbo (up 4.11 per cent). The top five losers were Shree Cement (down 1.90 per cent), UltraTech Cement (down 1.28 per cent), Britannia (down 1.28 per cent), Infosys (down 0.94 per cent) and Hero MotoCorp (down 0.73 per cent).

COVID-19 update

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide were at 15,83,34,639 with 32,93,120 deaths. India reported 37,45,237 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 2,46,116 deaths while 1,86,71,222 patients have been discharged, data showed.

A slowdown in US Jobs growth

US jobs growth unexpectedly slowed in April 2021, likely restrained by shortages of workers, the US Labour Department report on Friday showed. US employers hired 2,66,000 new workers in April 2021, according to the labour department's monthly non-farm payrolls report. The unemployment rate rose to 6.1 per cent last month amid an escalating shortage of available workers. Meanwhile, March's originally estimated total of 9,16,000 was revised down to 7,70,000.

European Inflation Target

The European Central Bank should change its policy and accept an overshoot of its inflation target to make up for years of sluggish price growth, media reports showed, citing Bank of Finland Governor Olli Rehn, who is also a member of the ECB Governing Council. Changes in the euro area's labour market and the world economy had weakened wage inflation pressures, and it "makes sense" to accept a certain period of overshooting while taking into account the history of undershooting, Mr Rehn said, the report added. A focus on full or maximum employment makes sense in the current context of a lower natural rate of interest, he was cited as saying.