Markets declined for 3rd day in row; Sensex falls 336 pts; Nifty ends below 18,200

Key equity indices ended with losses for the third consecutive session on Thursday, October 21, 2021. Profit selling in select index heavyweights like Infosys, Reliance, and TCS, weak Q2 results and negative global cues put pressure on bourses. Sensex closed below the 61,000-mark while Nifty ended below the 18,200 level.

The S&P BSE Sensex dropped 336.46 points or 0.55 per cent to 60,923.50. The Nifty 50 index lost 88.50 points or 0.48 per cent and settled at 18,178.10. However, the Nifty Bank index for the first time closed above the 40,000-mark. The index closed with a gain of 512 points or 1.30 per cent at 40,030.20.

In the broader markets, the S&P BSE MidCap and S&P BSE SmallCap closed at a loss of 0.38 per cent and 0.69 per cent, respectively.

The market breadth was almost even. On the BSE, 1610 shares rose and 1676 shares fell. On the Nifty 50 index at the NSE, 22 shares advanced and 28 shares declined. The top five gainers on Nifty 50 were Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 6.92 per cent), Tata Motors (up 4.53 per cent), Grasim (up 3.52 per cent), HDFC (up 1.96 per cent) and BPCL (up 1.71 per cent). The top five losers were Asian Paints (down 4.88 per cent), Hindalco (down 3.81 per cent), Infosys (down 2.52 per cent), Reliance (down 2.42 per cent) and TCS (down 2.11 per cent).

COVID-19 Update

India has achieved the major milestone of administering 100 crore doses of COVID vaccines under the Nationwide Vaccination Drive. Union Health Ministry said, more than 48 lakh vaccine doses were administered in the last 24 hours. It said, 18,454 new cases were reported in the country in the last 24 hours.

India's Active caseload stands at one lakh 78,831. Active cases account for less than one per cent of total cases and it is currently at 0.52 per cent, the lowest since March last year.

A total of 17,561 people recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours and with this, total recoveries touched 3,34,95,808. The Ministry said, the recovery rate is currently at 98.15 per cent which is the highest since March last year.

The weekly positivity rate currently stands at 1.34 per cent which is less than three per cent for the last 118 days. The daily positivity rate is at 1.48 per cent which is less than three per cent for the last 52 days.

Economy

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan including an institutional framework for rolling out, implementation, monitoring and support mechanism for providing multi-modal connectivity. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched PM GatiShakti National Master Plan for multi-modal connectivity on October 13, 2021.

In the US, the Beige Book, a compilation of anecdotal evidence on economic conditions in each of the 12 Fed districts, attributed the slowdown to supply chain disruptions, labour shortages and uncertainty around the Delta variant of COVID-19. The Fed also said employment increased at a modest to moderate rate in recent weeks, as demand for workers was high but labour growth was dampened by a low supply of workers.

UK government borrowing was significantly lower than forecast in the first half of the fiscal year but a surge in debt costs sent a warning to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak ahead of his budget next week. The budget deficit totalled 108.1 billion pounds ($149 billion) between April and September, the Office for National Statistics said on Thursday.