Lackluster trade continues on Dalal Street

Indian equity benchmarks continued their lackluster trade in afternoon session, ahead of a possible repo rate decision from the country's central bank, while global investors awaited U.S. inflation data and key rate decisions in Europe. The RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee is expected another round of hike in benchmark interest rates to contain inflation that continues to remain above the central bank’s upper tolerance level. Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve is widely expected to hike interest rates by 50 basis points in each of its policy meetings in June and July. Further, boiling crude oil prices along with depreciating domestic currency also weighed traders’ sentiments. Moreover, sustained foreign capital outflows also make investors cautious. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,397.65 crore on Monday, exchange data showed.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed over surging inflation and rising interest rates. Closer home, stocks from Oil & Gas and Energy counters were the sector which showcased resilience, while stocks from Consumer Durables, Realty and Capital Goods counters emerged as the laggards of the sector. The overall market breadth on BSE remained in the favour of declines which thumped advances in the ratio of 1996:1158, while 127 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 55000.10, down by 675.22 points or 1.21% after trading in a range of 54882.41 and 55387.77. There were 2 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 1.06%, while Small cap index was down by 0.72%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.37%, Energy up by 1.12%, Utilities up by 0.95%, Power up by 0.78% and PSU was up by 0.42%, while Consumer Durables down by 3.10%, Realty down by 1.93%, Capital Goods down by 1.70%, FMCG down by 1.70% and Basic Materials was down by 1.49% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The only gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 0.29% and Maruti Suzuki was up by 0.23%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 4.94%, Hindustan Unilever down by 3.03%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 2.90%, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.87% and Bajaj Finance was down by 2.78% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Ministry has released the 3rd monthly installment of Post Devolution Revenue Deficit (PDRD) Grant of Rs.7,183.42 crore to 14 States. The Fifteenth Finance Commission has recommended a total Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant of Rs 86,201 crore to 14 states for the financial year 2022-23.

These grants are released in 12 monthly instalments and are given to states to help them meet the gap in their revenue accounts after devolution. The states receiving this grant are Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal.

With the release of the third installment for the month of June 2022, the total amount of revenue deficit grants released to the states in 2022-23 stands at Rs 21,550.25 crore.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16393.40, down by 176.15 points or 1.06% after trading in a range of 16347.10 and 16487.25. There were 8 stocks advancing against 41 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 5.42%, Coal India up by 1.59%, BPCL up by 0.66%, Bajaj Auto up by 0.65% and Divi's Lab was up by 0.30%. On the flip side, Titan Co down by 4.86%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 3.04%, UPL down by 3.02%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.88% and Larsen & Toubro was down by 2.69% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; KOSPI fell 44.31 points or 1.66% to 2,626.34, Straits Times trembled 6.44 points or 0.2% to 3,220.19, Hang Seng decreased 144.46 points or 0.67% to 21,509.44 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 93.08 points or 0.56% to 16,512.88.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite soared 33.64 points or 0.47% to 7,130.22, Nikkei 225 surged 28.06 points or 0.1% to 27,943.95 and Shanghai Composite was up by 3.05 points or 0.09% to 3,239.42.