Sensex declines 78 points; Nifty ends below 17,550

Key equity indices ended with small losses after a volatile session on Wednesday, September 22, 2021. The S&P BSE Sensex slipped 77.94 points or 0.13 per cent to end at 58,927.33. The Nifty 50 index lost 15.35 points or 0.09 per cent to close at 17,546.65.

The Nifty Bank declined 291.20 points or 0.78 per cent to 36,944.65. In the broader market, outperforming the Sensex, the BSE MidCap index jumped 1.51 per cent and the SmallCap index rose 1.19 per cent.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 2101 shares rose and 1137 shares fell. On the Nifty 50 at the NSE, 27 shares advanced and 22 shares declined while one remained unchanged. The top five gainers on Nifty 50 were Coal India (up 3.61 per cent), Tech Mahindra (up 3.58 per cent), Hindalco (up 2.73 per cent), Tata Motors (up 2.67 per cent) and Mahindra & Mahindra (up 1.96 per cent). The top five losers were Nestle India (down 1.47 per cent), HDFC (down 1.35 per cent), ICICI Bank (down 1.17 per cent), ONGC (down 1.15 per cent) and HDFC Bank (down 1.02 per cent).

Paras Defence IPO

The Rs 170 crore initial public offering (IPO) of Paras Defence and Space Technologies Limited was subscribed 40.46 times today, which is the second day of bidding for the public issue. The subscription will close on Thursday, September 23, 2021. The price band for the issue of the Mumbai-based defence company has been fixed at Rs 165-175 per share. The issue comprises a fresh issue of Rs 140.6 crore by the company and an offer for sale of up to 17,24,490 equity shares worth Rs 30 crore by existing shareholders including Paras Defence promoters. Retail investors can subscribe to the IPO by placing bids in the lot of 85 equity shares and multiples of 85 thereafter.

COVID-19 Update

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide were at 22,95,43,672 with 47,08,355 deaths. India reported 3,01,989 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,45,768 deaths while 3,27,83,741 patients have been discharged, data showed.

Economy

The Asian Development Bank on Wednesday revised down India's economic growth forecast for the current fiscal to 10 per cent, from 11 per cent predicted earlier, citing the adverse impact of the second wave of the pandemic. In its Asian Development Outlook forecast in April this year, the multilateral funding agency had projected India to grow at 11 per cent in the current fiscal year. "Because consumption will recover only gradually, government spending and exports will contribute more to FY2021's growth than they did in the previous fiscal year," it had said about India.

The US current account deficit increased to a 14-year high in the second quarter as businesses boosted imports to replenish depleted inventories amid robust consumer spending. The Commerce Department said on Tuesday the current account deficit rose 0.5 per cent to $190.3 billion last quarter.