Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended the volatile day of trade in red terrain amid global sell-off as investors were spooked by Wall Street hitting a bear market milestone on fears of a looming recession. Markets made a negative start as traders remain concerned with continued selling by foreign investors. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have net sold Rs 4,164.01 crore worth of shares on June 13, as per provisional data available on the NSE. Sentiments also remain dampened as retail inflation stayed above the Reserve Bank’s upper tolerance level of 6 per cent for the fifth month in a row, though it eased to 7.04 per cent in May from April's near-eight-year high of 7.79 percent, mainly on account of softening food and fuel prices as the government as well as the RBI stepped in to control spiralling price rise by way of duty cuts and repo rate hike.

However, markets wiped off early gains to enter into green terrain as traders went for bargain hunting in fundamentally strong stocks. Traders took some support with India Exim Bank stating that the country's total merchandise exports are likely to be at $117.2 billion in the first quarter of FY23, as compared to the total merchandise exports of $95.5 billion in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Some support also came as ICRA Ratings’ report stated said that non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and housing finance Companies (HFCs) witnessed an improvement in their asset quality in the fourth quarter of FY22 (Q4FY22) as the impact of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 was minimal and the slippage from the restructured book was lower. But, markets failed to hold on to their gains and ended the day in red terrain after the wholesale based inflation came in at 15.88% in May as against 15.08% in April. The number has remained in double digits for the fourteenth consecutive month.

Weak opening in European counters too dampened sentiments after sharp declines in global markets on Monday, amid fears that central banks will be forced into aggressive monetary policy tightening with inflation remaining high. Back home, coal industry stocks were in focus with report that India’s coal import is likely to decline by 11.4 per cent to 186 million tonnes (MT) in the current financial year, even as the state-owned firm has issued import tenders to source the dry fuel from overseas. Stocks related to IT sector remained in focus as report said that the government's spending on information and technology will grow 12.1 per cent to $9.5 billion in 2022. Stocks related to Jute industry also remained in watch as the Indian Jute Mills Association has sought government support for revival and steady growth of the ailing industry, through measures such as bank credit, affordable housing and funds for new technology. The industry body, in a recent representation, had urged the Jute Commissioner to support the sector on which more than 2.5 lakh mill workers and 40 lakh farmers are directly dependent.

The BSE Sensex ended at 52,693.57, down by 153.13 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 52,459.48 and 53,095.32. There was 16 stock advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index down by 0.16%, while Small cap index down by 0.40%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.72%, Capital Goods up by 0.51%, Industrials up by 0.46%, Power up by 0.42% and TECK up by 0.39%, while Energy down by 1.22%, Oil & Gas down by 1.14%, Auto down by 0.52%, Metal down by 0.47% and Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services down by 0.40% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 2.22%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.42%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.37%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.19% and Infosys up by 1.18%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 2.12%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.93%, Reliance Industries down by 1.42%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.32% and HDFC down by 0.99% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, India’s wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation rate rose to the highest level in the current 2011-12 series at 15.88% in May 2022 as against 15.08% in April. The number has remained in double digits for the fourteenth consecutive month. The higher inflation can be attributed to a surge in vegetable prices and supply-side disruptions caused by the Russia-Ukraine war. Component wise, primary articles index, having weight of 22.62%, increased by 2.80% to 179.8 (provisional) in May, 2022 from 174.9 (provisional) for the month of April, 2022. Prices of Crude Petroleum & Natural Gas, Food Articles, Minerals and Non-food Articles increased in May 2022 as compared to April 2022.

Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15%, increased by 2.25% to 154.4 (provisional) in May, 2022 from 151.0 (provisional) for the month of April, 2022. Prices of Mineral Oils increased in May, 2022 as compared to April, 2022. Besides, prices of coal and electricity remain unchanged. Besides, Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23%, increased by 1.69% to 144 (provisional) in April 2022 from 141.6 (provisional) for the month of March 2022. Meanwhile, for the month of February 2022 the final Wholesale Price Index and inflation rate for 'All Commodities' (Base: 2011-12=100) stood at 145.3 and 13.43% respectively.

Moreover, Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23%, increased by 0.56% to 144.8 (provisional) in May, 2022 from 144.0 (provisional) for the month of April, 2022. Meanwhile, for the month of March, 2022 the final Wholesale Price Index and inflation rate for 'All Commodities' (Base: 2011-12=100) stood at 148.9 and 14.63% respectively. Further, WPI Food Index consisting of 'Food Articles' from Primary Articles group and 'Food Product' from Manufactured Products group have increased from 172.9 in April, 2022 to 176.1 in May, 2022. The rate of inflation based on WPI Food Index increased from 8.88% in April 2022 to 10.89% in May 2022.

The CNX Nifty ended at 15,732.10, down by 42.30 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 15,659.45 and 15,858.00. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 1.68%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.60%, Apollo Hospital up by 1.49%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.49% and Divi’s Lab up by 1.48%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 5.14%, Indusind Bank down by 2.46%, ONGC down by 2.26%, Hindalco down by 2.22% and Tech Mahindra down by 2.07% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 21.90 points or 0.30% to 7,183.91, France’s CAC decreased 51.80 points or 0.86% to 5,970.52 and Germany’s DAX was down by 56.64 points or 0.42% to 13,370.39.

Asian markets ended mixed on Tuesday as investors cautiously awaiting the outcome of a Federal Reserve policy meeting late on Wednesday. Investors are betting that the US Federal Reserve would raise the key rate by 75 basis points in light of surging US inflation and that could drag the world's top economy into recession. Japanese shares declined sharply following losses in the Wall Street overnight. However, Chinese shares gained even as strict Covid-19 curbs in China sparked worries of new supply chain disruptions.