Sensex ends above 53,000 for first time; metals, realty stocks shine

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Led by gains in index heavyweights HDFC, Tata Steel and ICICI Bank, Sensex climbed 194 points on July 7 to settle above the 53,000-mark for the first time.

After a choppy start, the 30-share index jumped 193.58 points or 0.37% toward the fag-end of the session to settle at a fresh lifetime high of 53,054.76. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty 50 rose 61.40 points or 0.39% to its record peak of 15,879.65.

“Amid mixed global cues and ahead of Q1FY22 earnings data, domestic equity indices traded flattish with a positive bias towards the end of the day. Global markets traded mixed ahead of the FOMC minutes as investors preferred safe-haven bonds and dollars. Healthy pre-sale numbers boosted buying interest in realty stocks while metal stocks followed the trend,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Gainers & losers

Sectoral strand

Most sectoral stocks ended in the green. The Nifty Metal index led the sectoral pack with gains of 2.20%, followed by the Nifty Realty index that climbed almost 2%. While Nifty FMCG, Nifty Bank, Nifty Pharma and the Nifty IT indices rose anywhere between 0.30-0.60%. Whereas the Nifty Auto index ended with marginal losses of 0.07%.

Broader market

The broader market more or less replicated the gains in the benchmark indices, with the BSE MidCap ending at 22,627 points which is an increase of 0.58% while the BSE SmallCap index rose by 0.38% to close at 25,798 points.

Politics

The Union Cabinet reshuffle/expansion will be reportedly taking place on 7 July 2021 at 18:00 IST. This will be the first cabinet reshuffle in the second term of the Narendra Modi government.

Global markets

European shares rose across the board while most Asian stocks declined on Wednesday, 7 July 2021, following losses on Wall Street with the S&P 500 ending its seven-day winning streak.

US stocks fell on Tuesday as Wall Street kicked off the holiday-shortened week on concerns about the economic outlook and risks from Covid-19 variants.

The ISM Services index, a major gauge of the services sector, slowed to 60% in June from a record in the prior month, data released Tuesday showed.

Investors await the release of June Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes due Wednesday for clues about the central bank’s behind-the-scenes discussions on winding down its quantitative easing program.