Weakness persists in markets in morning deals

Indian benchmark indices continued to trade in red in morning session due to selling in frontline blue chip stocks and weak cues from global markets. The sentiment remained dull with a private report that India's central bank is likely to raise its inflation projection for the current fiscal year at its June monetary policy meeting and will consider more interest rate hikes. Some anxiety was also among the local traders with private report has lowered its forecasts for India's economic growth in the next two fiscal years, saying a global slowdown, surging oil prices and weak domestic demand would take a toll on Asia's third-largest economy. It said gross domestic product growth will be 7.6% for fiscal 2023 and 6.7% for fiscal 2024, 30 basis points lower than the previous estimates. Meanwhile, to strengthen the regulatory framework for collective investment schemes, markets regulator SEBI has enhanced the net worth criteria and track record requirements for entities managing such schemes.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, as traders remained concerned about faster interest rate hikes after US data showed higher-than-expected core inflations. Back home, Auto industry stocks remained in focus as industry body SIAM said passenger vehicle dispatches from factories to dealers in the domestic market declined by 4 per cent in April as supply side challenges continued for the automotive industry. Total passenger vehicle domestic wholesales stood at 251,581 units last month as compared to 261,633 units in April 2021

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 53232.67, down by 855.72 points or 1.58% after trading in a range of 53047.75 and 53632.55. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 1.67%, while Small cap index was down by 1.23%.

The only gaining sectoral index on the BSE was IT up by 0.01%, while Metal down by 2.95%, Power down by 2.86%, Utilities down by 2.76%, Consumer Durables down by 2.38% and Basic Materials down by 2.21% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The few gainers on the Sensex were HCL Tech up by 0.44%, TCS up by 0.43%, Wipro up by 0.21% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.17%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 3.33%, Ultratech Cement down by 3.26%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.08%, Tata Steel down by 3.03% and Bajaj Finance down by 2.92% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Industry body SIAM has said that passenger vehicle (PV) dispatches from factories to dealers in the domestic market declined by 4 per cent in April as supply side challenges continued for the automotive industry. Total passenger vehicle domestic wholesales stood at 251,581 units last month as compared to 261,633 units in April 2021. Passenger car dispatches stood at 112,857 last month as against 141,194 units in the same month last year. Utility vehicle wholesales, however, increased to 127,213 units from 108,871 units in the year-ago period.

Van dispatches remained flat at 11,511 units in April as against 11,568 units in April 2021. Two-wheeler sales increased by 15 per cent to 11,48,696 units last month as compared to 995,115 units in April 2021. Motorcycle sales increased to 735,360 units as against 667,859 units in April 2021. Similarly, scooter dispatches rose to 374,556 units last month as compared to 301,279 units in the year-ago period. Three-wheeler wholesales also increased to 20,938 units last month as against 13,856 units in April 2021.

SIAM Director General Rajesh Menon noted that sales of passenger vehicles is still below the April 2017 figures, while two-wheelers are even below the April 2012 figures. He added three-wheelers are yet to reach normal levels, as sales are still less than 50 per cent of April 2016 figures. He also said manufacturers are working hard to manage the supplier ecosystem with agility and flexibility, as supply side challenges continue for the industry. He further said ‘manufacturers are also monitoring the likely impact on demand, due to the recent hike in repo rate, as it would increase the lending rates to the customers’.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15906.45, down by 260.65 points or 1.61% after trading in a range of 15848.10 and 16041.95. There were 3 stocks advancing against 47 stocks declining on the index.

The few gainers on Nifty were TCS up by 0.35%, HCL Technologies up by 0.19% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.00%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 5.54%, Tata Motors down by 3.65%, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 3.52%, Indusind Bank down by 3.45% and Hero MotoCorp down by 3.38% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 394.37 points or 1.5% to 25,819.27, Taiwan Weighted dropped 274.78 points or 1.72% to 15,731.47, Hang Seng decreased 208.80 points or 1.05% to 19,615.77, Jakarta Composite lost 144.68 points or 2.12% to 6,671.52, KOSPI fell 27.17 points or 1.05% to 2,565.10 and Straits Times trembled 24.24 points or 0.75% to 3,201.83.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite gained 5.08 points or 0.17% to 3,063.78.