Volatility continues on Dalal Street

Volatility continued on the Dalal Street in late afternoon session, on the back of weak opening of European markets. The broader markets also seemed sluggish in late noon deals, with both BSE Mid cap and Small cap falling more than a percent. The street got cautious, amid reports that reversing their three-month buying streak, foreign investors pulled out a net Rs 3,207 crore from the Indian capital markets in the first seven trading sessions of May amid the US-China trade tensions and uncertainty over the election results. Prior to this, foreign portfolio investors (FPI) poured in a net Rs 16,093 crore in April, Rs 45,981 crore in March and Rs 11,182 crore in February in the domestic capital markets (both equity and debt).

On the sectoral front, sugar stocks were in focus, after the All India Sugar Trade Association (AISTA) data showed that the country's sugar exports surged to 21.29 lakh tonne so far in the current marketing year ending September, as against about five lakh tonnes shipped in the entire 2017-18. Out of the 21.29 lakh tonnes exported between October 1 and April 6, raw sugar accounted for 9.76 lakh tonnes.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red, as Italy's industrial production fell to the steepest rate in three months in March. The data from the statistical office ISTAT showed that industrial production fell 1.4 percent year-on-year in March, after a 0.9 percent rise in February. The latest decline in production was the worst since last December, when it fell 5.7 percent. Asian markets were also trading in red, after White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow signaled the tariff war with China could keep going for a while longer.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 37428.61, down by 34.38 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 37319.00 and 37583.57. There were 15 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.21%, while Small cap index was down by 1.47%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.75%, Telecom up by 0.72%, TECK up by 0.56% and Consumer Durables up by 0.20%, while Healthcare down by 1.88%, Capital Goods down by 1.84%, Utilities down by 1.72%, Power down by 1.68% and Industrials down by 1.63% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 1.55%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.45%, Infosys up by 1.35%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.06% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.95%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 4.73%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 3.75%, Sun Pharma down by 2.75%, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.15% and Indusind Bank down by 2.07% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Indians were less interested in cars and passenger vehicle at the start of current fiscal year, as the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) in its latest report showed fall of 17.07% in domestic passenger vehicle (PV) sales to stand 2,47,541 units in April 2019 from 2,98,504 units in the year-ago month.

As per the report, domestic car sales decreased 19.93% to 1,60,279 units compared to 2,00,183 in April 2018. Besides, sales of motorcycle during the last month declined 11.81% to 10,84,811 units as against 12,30,046 units a year earlier and total two-wheeler sales in April declined 16.36% to 16,38,388 units compared to 19,58,761 units in the year-ago month.

SIAM also noted decline in sales of commercial vehicles, which were down 5.98% to 68,680 units in April. It further added that vehicle sales across categories registered a decline of 15.93% to 20,01,096 units from 23,80,294 units in April 2018.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11225.60, down by 53.30 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 11222.20 and 11300.20. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindustan Unilever up by 1.44%, Titan Co up by 1.35%, HDFC up by 1.32%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.31% and Infosys up by 1.10%. On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 7.60%, Eicher Motors down by 7.02%, Yes Bank down by 5.19%, Sun Pharma down by 4.08% and Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 3.66% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 153.64 points or 0.72% to 21,191.28, Taiwan Weighted dropped 154.70 points or 1.44% to 10,558.29, Jakarta Composite lost 22.93 points or 0.37% to 6,186.19, KOSPI fell 29.03 points or 1.38% to 2,079.01, Straits Times trembled 31.14 points or 0.95% to 3,242.36 and Shanghai Composite declined 39.84 points or 136% to 2,899.37.

European markets were trading mostly in red; France’s CAC fell 23.22 points or 0.44% to 5,304.22 and Germany’s DAX was down by 89.20 points or 0.74% to 11,970.63, while UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 2.38 points or 0.03% to 7,205.67.