Indices trade sidways with losses

Key domestic indices were trading sideways with small losses in mid afternoon trade. The Nifty came off 11,150 level again and traded lower. At 13:24 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 147.37 points or 0.39% at 37,981.53. The Nifty 50 index lost 51 points or 0.46% at 11,143.15.

The broader market was under pressure. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.88% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index lost 0.76%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 840 shares rose and 1747 shares fell. A total of 165 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 19 stocks advanced while 31 stocks declined.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 16,261,995 with 648,937 deaths. India reported 4,85,114 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 32,771 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare noted in latest update that on 25th July, India recorded the highest ever COVID-19 recoveries in a single day. 36,145 COVID-19 patients were cured and discharged in the last 24 hours. This has taken the total number of recovered cases to 8,85,576. The recovery rate has achieved another high of fast approaching 64%. It stands at 63.92% today. This means more patients are recovering thus maintaining the steadily widening difference between recovered and active COVID-19 patients. This gap has crossed 4 lakh and currently stands at 4,17,694. Recovered cases are 1.89 times the active cases (4,67,882).

RBI's Financial Stability Report:

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released its 21st Financial Stability Report on Friday, which reflects the collective assessment of the Sub-Committee of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) on risks to financial stability.

RBI said that the capital to risk-weighted assets ratio (CRAR) of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) edged down to 14.8% in March 2020 from 15% in September 2019 while their gross non-performing asset (GNPA) ratio declined to 8.5% from 9.3% and the provision coverage ratio (PCR) improved to 65.4% from 61.6% over this period.

Macro stress tests for credit risk indicate that the GNPA ratio of all SCBs may increase from 8.5% in March 2020 to 12.5% by March 2021 under the baseline scenario; the ratio may escalate to 14.7% under a very severely stressed scenario.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Aarti Drugs soared 11.43% to Rs 1772, rising for fourth consecutive trading session. The stock has gained nearly 23% in four trading days. The company announced robust Q1 June 2020 results on Saturday. On a consolidated basis, the company reported a 280% jump in net profit to Rs 85.45 crore on a 34% rise in net sales to Rs 544.67 crore in Q1 June 2020 over Q1 June 2019.

InterGlobe Aviation fell 4.8%. The airline company announced that the board of directors of the company have proposed to discuss and consider raising of funds through issue of equity shares, and/or foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCB), and/or non-convertible debentures, and/or any other eligible instruments or securities representing equity shares or convertible into or exchangeable for equity shares or through qualified institutions placement or rights issue on 30 July 2020.

Coromandel International slipped 1.88%. The company's consolidated net profit surged 301.40% to Rs 250.57 crore on 50.8% jump in net sales to Rs 3,213.23 crore in Q1 June 2020 over Q1 June 2019. During the quarter ended 30 June 2020, profit before depreciation, interest, taxes and exceptional item (EBITDA) for the quarter ended 30 June 2020 grew 113% to Rs 415 crore from Rs 195 crore in 30 June 2019.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 5.86% compared with previous closing of 5.817% in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee edged lower to 74.835 compared with its previous closing 74.83.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for September 2020 settlement fell 12 cents to $43.22 a barrel. The contract rose 0.07% to end at $43.34 in the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 August 2020 settlement jumped 1.97% to Rs 52,040.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News