Mr Vishal Wagh, Research Head
On Friday Indian equity benchmarks made a cautious start, after a day's halt as markets were closed yesterday on account of Eid al-Fitr. Domestic indices are trading flat with negative bias in early deals amid worries over the economic impact of the second wave of COVID-19 and lockdowns and restrictions in various states. In the afternoon session, Indian equity benchmarks trimmed some of their losses and trade above the neutral line. Both Sensex and Nifty are trading around 48,725 and 14,676 levels.
Most of the Asian equity benchmarks traded higher in early deals on Friday, with some technical buying after a hefty sell-off in the last three sessions in a row. Market sentiments got boosted with the US stock markets overnight followed by the better-than-expected weekly labor market data.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that renewing stalled real estate projects will significantly improve economic sentiment in the country grappling with the second wave of Covid-19 and will also boost the portfolios of banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).
In Nifty 50 top gainers UPL Ltd, Asian Paints Ltd, ITC Ltd, Nestle India Ltd and Larsen & Toubro Ltd. The losers are Coal India Ltd, Hindalco Industries Ltd, Grasim Industries Ltd, Tata Steel Ltd and Tata Motors Ltd.