Domestic Markets closes at new highs; Sensex rises 873 points & Nifty settles at 16,131

Benchmark indices closed at an all-time high on Tuesday, August 3, 2021, amid broad-based buying. The two headline indices, the S&P BSE Sensex scaled a new record peak of 53,887.98 levels and the Nifty 50 hit a fresh record peak of 16,146.90.

The S&P BSE Sensex surged 872.73 points or 1.65 per cent to close at 53,823.36. The Nifty 50 index jumped 245.60 points or 1.55 per cent to 16,130.75. The Nifty Bank index gained 497.45 points or 1.43 per cent to settle at 35,207.45.

The broader market was subdued with the BSE Midcap index and the Smallcap index gaining 0.2 per cent, each.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,732 shares rose and 1,508 shares fell. On the Nifty 50 index on NSE, 44 shares rose and 6 shares declined. The top five gainers on Nifty 50 were Titan (up 3.99 per cent), HDFC (up 3.78 per cent), IndusInd Bank (up 3.49 per cent), Nestle India (up 3.29 per cent) and UltraTech Cement (up 2.71 per cent). The top five losers were JSW Steel (down 0.78 per cent), Shree Cement (down 0.33 per cent), Bajaj Auto (down 0.30 per cent), UPL (down 0.21 per cent) and Tata Steel (down 0.20 per cent).

COVID-19 Update

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide were at 19,89,33,145 with 42,36,469 deaths. India reported 4,04,958 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,25,195 deaths while 3,08,96,354 patients have been discharged, data showed.

Economy

India's merchandise exports grew 47.19 per cent to $35.17 billion in July on account of healthy growth in the shipment of petroleum, engineering goods and gems and jewellery, according to provisional data of the Commerce Ministry. Imports during the month also rose 59.38 per cent to $46.40 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $11.23 billion.

The Reserve Bank of Australia said it will stick with its planned tapering of bond purchases even as Sydney's protracted lockdown is set to shrink the economy this quarter. Governor Philip Lowe and his board surprised economists by keeping to their plan to reduce the pace of weekly bond purchases to A$4 billion ($3 billion) in September from A$5 billion now while maintaining the cash rate at 0.1 per cent on Tuesday.

The surprise decision to hold firm on the tapering plans reflects underlying confidence among policymakers that the economy has plenty of support and is likely to rebound fast once restrictions lift. Mr Lowe has nonetheless made clear that he does not want to get ahead of the Federal Reserve when it comes to unwinding stimulus, with Chair Jerome Powell saying there is still some way to go before a US tapering.