Markets at day’s low; Metal loses shine

Tracking weak European markets, Indian equity benchmarks extended their losses in late afternoon session to reach near their intraday low points, with Sensex and Nifty falling around 200 and 80 points, respectively. In line with sluggish larger peers, the broader markets too pared all of their gains and slipped into red terrain. Besides, Metal index declined the most among all other sectoral indices with losses of over 3%, followed by Oil & Gas and Energy. Anxiety spread among investors as former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram criticised the Centre for the fuel price hike and claimed that the rate can be reduced by Rs 25 per litre but the government is not doing it. Domestic sentiments also got hit by losses led by major industry leaders such as Tata Steel, Dr. Reddy’s Lab and ONGC. Traders paid no heed towards Employment Provident Fund Organisation’s (EPFO) latest ‘Overall Payroll Data’ report showing that India created 39.36 lakh new jobs in seven months period till March 2018. As per the report, total 6,13,134 new payrolls were created during March 2018 as against 5,89,034 created in the previous month, registering a growth of 4.09%. The market participants also overlooked report that the agriculture ministry released the Model Contract Farming Act, 2018, which lays emphasis on protecting the interests of farmers, considering them as weaker of the two parties entering into a contract.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red, after US President Donald Trump said he’s ‘not really’ pleased with China's trade talks so far and that there was a ‘substantial chance’ his June summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ‘may not work out.’ Asian markets were also trading in red. Back home, in scrip specific development, Larsen & Toubro was trading higher as its construction arm -- L&T Construction’s Transportation Infrastructure business bagged an order worth Rs 1,425 crore.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34452.84, down by 198.40 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 34442.76 and 34668.47. There were 8 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.12%, while Small cap index was down by 0.21%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 0.35%, IT up by 0.31%, Consumer Durables up by 0.30%, Power up by 0.30% and Utilities up by 0.29%, while Metal down by 3.15%, Oil & Gas down by 2.98%, Energy down by 2.34%, Basic Materials down by 1.75% and Realty down by 1.40% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 3.74%, NTPC up by 1.52%, ICICI Bank up by 1.36%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.84% and Tata Motors up by 0.81%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 6.01%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 3.07%, ONGC down by 2.44%, Indusind Bank down by 2.09% and Reliance Industries down by 1.88% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a positive surprise, the Retirement fund body, Employment Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in its latest ‘Overall Payroll Data’ report has showed that India created 39.36 lakh new jobs in seven months period till March 2018. As per the report, total 6,13,134 new payrolls were created during March 2018 as against 5,89,034 created in the previous month, registering a growth of 4.09%.

The report showed that half of the payrolls were created in the expert service segment across all age groups, while segments like electric, mechanical or general engineering products, building and construction industry, trading & commercial establishments and textiles reported substantial job creation. The data also indicated that over half of the jobs created in organised sector were in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat during the seven-month period till March 2018.

According to the data report, 6987 new jobs were created in less than 18 age group category, while 1,79,970 jobs in 18-21 age group category. Further, 22-25 and 26-28 age group witnessed 1,69,143 and 69,116 new jobs respectively in the March 2018. Besides, 29-35 and more than 35 age group category witnessed 93,930 and 93,988 new payrolls respectively in March 2018.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10456.95, down by 79.75 points or 0.76% after trading in a range of 10455.80 and 10533.55. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI up by 3.80%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.24%, Cipla up by 1.85%, ICICI Bank up by 1.57% and NTPC up by 1.42%. On the flip side, HPCL down by 8.87%, BPCL down by 6.06%, Tata Steel down by 5.96%, Vedanta down by 5.35% and Indian Oil Corporation down by 4.27% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 568.71 points or 1.82% to 30,665.64, Nikkei 225 decreased 270.6 points or 1.18% to 22,689.74, Taiwan Weighted decreased 52.55 points or 0.48% to 10,886.18, Shanghai Composite decreased 45.39 points or 1.41% to 3,168.96 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 35.56 points or 1.93% to 1,809.47. On the flip side, KOSPI Index increased 6.34 points or 0.26% to 2,471.91 and Jakarta Composite increased 82.44 points or 1.43% to 5,833.56.

All European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 181.84 points or 1.38% to 12,988.08, France’s CAC decreased 65.92 points or 1.17% to 5,574.18 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 50.55 points or 0.64% to 7,826.90.