Barometers trade sideways with losses

Equity indices traded sideways near the flat line in mid afternoon trade. The Nifty held on to 15,800 mark. IT stocks saw profit booking after two days of rally. At 14:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 112.53 points or 0.21% at 52,812.11. The Nifty 50 index lost 22.8 points or 0.14% at 15,837.70.

The broader market was trading higher. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.45% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.54%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1,847 shares rose and 1,413 shares fell. A total of 157 shares were unchanged.

While the fresh COVID cases have declined in India, the Delta variant continues to be a cause of concern. Due to its higher transmissibility, fresh restrictions are being imposed in developed countries like UK & Australia.

Firm crude oil prices above $75 mark also worried investors. India is heavily dependent on oil imports for satisfying its domestic demand. A high crude price directly maps into a high trade deficit and in turn a high current account deficit (CAD). At the same time, being an important input for the aggregate economy, a crude price shock also leads to a spike in domestic inflation.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will address a press conference today, 28th June 2021 at 3 PM in New Delhi.

Coronavirus Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 18,10,96,913 with 39,23,105 deaths. India reported 5,72,994 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 3,96,730 deaths while 2,93,09,607 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index slipped 0.4% to 29,093.95, snapping its two day winning run. The IT index saw profit taking after rising 3.37% in two days.

L&T Infotech (down 1.82%), TCS (down 0.98%), Oracle Financial Services (down 0.8%), HCL Tech (down 0.72%) and Mphasis (down 0.61%) were top losers in IT space.

Numbers to Watch:

In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee fell to 74.22 compared with its previous closing of 74.20.

MCX Gold futures for 5 August 2021 settlement rose 0.06% to Rs 46,954.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.06% to 91.790.

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 6.055% from its previous close of 6.028%.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for August 2021 settlement fell 28 cents to $75.10 a barrel.

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