Bourses witness volatility in late afternoon session

Local equity markets witnessed volatility in late afternoon session as traders remained cautious amid concerns of global recession. Traders failed to take support, as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) turned net purchaser of the US currency in April, after it bought $1.965 billion from spot market. Sector wise, steel sector remain in focused, as rating agency ICRA has revised its outlook on the domestic steel to stable from positive, mainly on the account of mounting input costs amid low steel rates. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red on fears global economic activity will be depressed by interest rate hikes to cool inflation. European markets were trading higher as investors look for bargains among beaten-down stocks.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 51,411.28, down by 84.51 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 50921.22 and 51634.15. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.85%, while Small cap index was down by 0.97%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.04% and Metal was up by 0.04%, while Consumer Durables down by 2.58%, Oil & Gas down by 2.52%, IT down by 1.85%, TECK down by 1.79% and Telecom was down by 1.72% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 2.13%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.90%, Reliance Industries up by 1.68%, Tata Steel up by 0.96% and ICICI Bank up by 0.74%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 5.50%, Wipro down by 4.27%, TCS down by 2.92%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 2.72% and Sun Pharma down by 2.57% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, a day after the US Federal Reserve's decision to raise interest rates by 75 basis points, Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth has said that the government does not see any adverse impact on the Indian economy post the US Federal Reserve's decision.

Economic Affairs Secretary noted that all central banks are grappling with it and taking adequate measures which are needed to control the inflation. He further said ‘I see fair amount of coordination...directly or indirectly they are moving in tandem.

On the inflation front, Seth said inflation in India is mainly because of high energy and food prices and hoped that it would moderate in the coming months. Meanwhile, the US Federal Open Market Committee raised the target range for federal funds rate by 75 basis points to 1.50-1.75 per cent. It also said it would hike rates aggressively in the rest of the calendar year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15,317.80, down by 42.80 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 15183.40 and 15400.40. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finserv up by 2.11%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.94%, Reliance Industries up by 1.65%, Coal India up by 1.61% and JSW Steel up by 1.33%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 5.56%, Wipro down by 4.23%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 3.66%, Shree Cement down by 3.40% and UPL down by 3.39% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Nikkei 225 slipped 468.20 points or 1.77% to 25,963.00, Taiwan Weighted dropped 197.35 points or 1.25% to 15,641.26, Jakarta Composite lost 113.36 points or 1.61% to 6,936.97, Straits Times trembled 11.27 points or 0.36% to 3,086.16 and KOSPI was down by 10.48 points or 0.43% to 2,440.93. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite gained 31.41 points or 0.96% to 3,316.79 and Hang Seng was up by 229.57 points or 1.1% to 21,075.00.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 46.67 points or 0.66% to 7,091.65, France’s CAC increased 51.66 points or 0.88% to 5,937.90 and Germany’s DAX was up by 129.80 points or 1% to 13,168.29.