Markets witness choppiness in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks have made a cautious start and are trading choppy in early deals amid weak global cues. Traders remained concerned about the Central Statistics Office (CSO) data showing that retail inflation inched up to a six-month high of 2.92% in April due to a spike in food prices, including vegetables, meat, fish and eggs. Inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was at 2.86% in the previous month and 4.58% in April 2018. The rate of price rise in April is the highest since October 2018 when the rate was 3.38%. Further, sentiment on the street weakened as Moody's Investors Service’s statement that India’s rising oil consumption will support its investments in refining capacity additions and upstream production, but imports will keep growing amid stagnant production. The country's dependence on imported crude oil to meet its needs has risen to 83.7% in 2018-19 fiscal year from 82.9% in 2017-18. Import dependence was 80.6% in 2015-16. However, losses remain capped as traders took some solace with Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Krishnamurthy V. Subramanian’s statement that the Indian economy will grow at 7% range in the current fiscal powered by the effects of the strong structural reforms such as bankruptcy laws, Goods and Services Tax (GST), crackdown on shell companies and the fiscal prudence undertaken in the last five years.

On the Global front; the US markets declined on Monday as China said it would raise steep tariffs on $60 billion in US goods, upping the stakes of a trade war that threatens to imperil the global economy. Asian markets were trading mostly in red on Tuesday as investors remain worried about rising US-China trade tensions. China has announced tariffs on about $60 billion worth of US goods in retaliation for the US decision to raise tariffs on about $200 billion worth of Chinese imports. Back home, auto stocks edged lower with report that sales of cars and SUVs in India slumped the most since October 2011. Further, Passenger vehicle sales in April fell 17.1 per cent to 247,541 units from a year earlier, data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers showed. Car sales slumped almost 20 per cent, while overall automobile sales dropped 16 per cent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 37069.49, down by 21.33 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 36998.44 and 37146.58. There were 11 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index slipped 0.29%, while Small cap index was down by 0.46%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 0.45%, Energy up by 0.40%, Bankex up by 0.22%, Utilities up by 0.10% and Oil & Gas was up by 0.07%, while Telecom down by 0.91%, Capital Goods down by 0.71%, TECK down by 0.66%, Metal down by 0.62% and IT was down by 0.61% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma Industries up by 3.84%, Vedanta up by 1.36%, ICICI Bank up by 1.22%, Yes Bank up by 0.81% and Reliance Industries was up by 0.76%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.52%, Tata Steel down by 1.51%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.41%, Coal India down by 1.24% and HCL Tech was down by 1.14% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India’s retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) continued northward journey for third straight month and inched up to a 6-month high of 2.92% in April 2019 due to a spike in food prices, including vegetables, meat, fish and eggs. The data showed that inflation was at 2.86% in March 2019 and 4.58% in April 2018. The rate of price rise in April is the highest since October 2018 when the rate was 3.38%. Besides, inflation in the food basket was 1.10% in April, up from 0.30% in March, while it was 2.80 in April 2018.

As per the data of the Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme, the CPI (Rural, Urban, Combined) on Base2012=100 for April 2019, stood at 1.87%, 4.23% and 2.92%, respectively, compared to 4.67%, 4.42% and 4.58%, respectively in April 2018. The index value of CPI for combined stood at 141.1. The data also showed that CFPI for all India Rural and Urban for April 2019 stood at (-) 0.80% and 4.64%, respectively, compared to 3.63% and 1.29%, respectively in April 2018. The index value of CFPI for combined stood at 137.3 for the month of April.

Prices of vegetables rose by 2.87% against a contraction in March. However, fruit prices declined in April compared to the year-ago month. Besides, food & beverage inflation rose to 1.38% in April from 0.66% in March 2019, the fuel, light inflation was recorded at 2.56% in April 2019 against 2.42% in March 2019, while, the housing inflation decreased to 4.76% in April 2019 from 4.93% in March 2019. Meantime, Pan, tobacco and intoxicants saw rate of 4.27%, clothing & footwear was at 2.01%.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11126.35, down by 21.85 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 11109.20 and 11157.95. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma Industries up by 3.93%, Vedanta up by 2.79%, Adani Ports &Special up by 1.81%, ICICI Bank up by 1.04% and Reliance Industries was up by 0.65%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.44%, ONGC down by 1.37%, Tata Steel down by 1.33%, HDFC down by 1.19% and Zee Entertainment was down by 1.18% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 452.48 points or 1.58% to 28,097.76, Nikkei 225 slipped 170.11 points or 0.8% to 21,021.17, Jakarta Composite lost 65.50 points or 1.07% to 6,069.90, Straits Times trembled 29.70 points or 0.92% to 3,204.58, Taiwan Weighted dropped 24.78 points or 0.23% to 10,533.51and Shanghai Composite was down by 10.36 points or 0.36% to 2,893.35. On the flip side, KOSPI was up by 6.62 points or 0.32% to 2,085.63.