Markets attain record closing levels; Sensex gains 77 points & Nifty end at 17,946

Domestic equity markets scaled fresh lifetime highs on Monday, October 11, 2021, and ended with decent gains. The Nifty 50 index vaulted above the 18,000-mark for the first time in its history and hit a record high of 18,041.95. However, last hour profit-booking in index heavyweight Reliance Industries (down 0.6 per cent) and IT stocks, including TCS (down 6.3 per cent), Tech Mahindra, Infosys, and HCL Technologies pulled back the indices from day's high.

The S&P BSE Sensex closed 76.72 points or 0.13 per cent higher at 60,135.78. The Nifty 50 index settled 50.75 points or 0.28 per cent higher at 17,945.95. The Nifty Bank rose 518.55 points or 1.37 per cent to 38,293.80.

The broader markets outperformed the Sensex at the BSE with the BSE MidCap closing 0.55 per cent higher at 25,978.36 and SmallCap indices ended up to 0.60 per cent higher at 29,506.36 levels, respectively. These indices, too, hit new peaks of 26,103.03 and 29,652.53, respectively, in the intra-day trade.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,952 shares rose and 1481 shares fell. On the Nifty 50 index at the NSE, 34 shares advanced and 16 shares declined. The top five gainers were Tata Motors (up 9.10 per cent), Coal India (up 4.35 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (up 3.36 per cent), Power Grid (up 3.28 per cent) and Grasim (up 3.24 per cent). The top five losers were TCS (down 6.29 per cent), Tech Mahindra (down 2.69 per cent), Infosys (down 1.79 per cent), HCL Technologies (down 1.35 per cent) and Britannia (down 1.22 per cent).

New Listing

Shares of Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC settled at Rs 698 on the NSE. It debuted at the NSE at Rs 715 per share as against an issue price of Rs 712 per share. The scrip was listed at par with the initial public offer (IPO) price of Rs 712 per share. The stock hit a high of Rs 722.90 and a low of Rs 695.35 during the shares.

The Rs 2,786 crore initial public offering (IPO) of Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC was subscribed 5.25 times on Friday, October 1, 2021, the final day of the bidding. Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC shares received bids for 145,997,120 shares against 27,799,200 shares on the offer. A total of 3,37,92,960 bids were received at the cut-off price, data from the National Stock Exchange showed. The initial public offering (IPO) of Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC was open for subscription from September 29 to October 1, 2021. The price band for the public issue was fixed at Rs 695-712 per share.

COVID-19 Update

Total Covid-19 confirmed cases worldwide were at 237,878,939 with 4,851,945 deaths. India reported 227,347 active cases of Covid-19 infection and 450,782 deaths, data showed.

Economy

Union Government has imposed stock limits on edible oils to soften the prices of edible oils in the domestic market. Consumer Affairs Ministry said, the Department of Food and Public Distribution has imposed stock limits on edible oils and oilseeds for a period upto March 31, 2022.

The Ministry said, the decision will bring great relief to consumers across the country. The high prices of edible oil in the international market have a substantial impact on domestic edible oil prices.

The Ministry said, the government has formulated a multi-pronged strategy to ensure that the prices of essential commodities like edible oils remain controlled. It said, measures like rationalization of import duty structure, launching of a web-portal for self-disclosure of stocks held by various stakeholders had already been taken.