Sensex, Nifty hit day's low

The benchmark indices hit the day's low and traded with small losses in mid-morning trade. The Nifty slipped below 15,850 level. Metal, pharma and PSU banks traded higher while IT and media shares declined.

At 11:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 148.98 points or 0.28% at 52,776.24. The Nifty 50 index declined 32.90 points or 0.21% at 15,827.10.

In broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.37% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.4%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1763 shares rose and 1321 shares fell. A total of 156 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.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 181,047,252 with 3,922,087 global deaths.

India reported 572,994 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 396,730 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index gained 1.2% to 5,286.85, rising for third consecutive trading session. The metal index added 4.45% in three days.

NMDC (up 3.21%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 2.95%), Tata Steel (up 1.52%), Vedanta (up 1.45%) and Steel Authority of India (up 0.95%) were the top gainers. Among the other gainers were JSW Steel (up 0.83%) and Hindalco Industries (up 0.51%).

Stocks in Spotlight:

Strides Pharma Science gained 2.27% to Rs 776 after the company announced the successful completion of the EU GMP inspection carried out by the National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition (OGY), Hungry at its Puducherry facility. The company said it has received the renewed GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) certificate thereby confirming the successful closure of the inspection. The company in August 2020 had also announced successful completion of the UK MHRA inspection at the site.

Granules rose 0.89%. The drug company announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) completed the inspection of the facility of Granules Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a wholly owned foreign subsidiary of the company located in Chantilly, Virginia, USA on Friday, 25 June 2021 with two minor observations. Granules assured that it will respond to these observations within the stipulated time.

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