Markets turn negative in late afternoon session

Indian markets wiped out all their gains and turned negative in late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline counters. However, the broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index maintained their gains. Traders were cautious even after Commerce and industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that India has a strong foreign exchange reserve and the country is in a comfortable position to meet all the requirements even in any worst-case scenario in the next five-six years. India's forex kitty jumped $3.553 billion to $599.529 billion for the week ended May 12, according to the Reserve Bank of India. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, amid worries about growth and interest rates, and increasing concerns over a standoff in Republican-manufactured U.S. debt ceiling confrontation. European markets were trading mostly in red as little progress in the U.S. debt ceiling negotiations, a jump in UK core inflation and more losses in heavyweight luxury names hurt risk sentiment.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61866.71, down by 115.08 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 61730.53 and 62154.14. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged. 

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.31%, while Small cap index was up by 0.17%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.48%, Healthcare up by 0.76%, Power up by 0.76%, Utilities up by 0.74% and PSU was up by 0.30%, while Bankex down by 0.29%, Metal down by 0.22%, Realty down by 0.16%, Capital Goods down by 0.10% and Industrials was down by 0.03% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 2.32%, Titan Company up by 1.16%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.86%, Indusind Bank up by 0.84% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.82%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.24%, HDFC down by 1.16%, HDFC Bank down by 1.09%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.84% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.58% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das has said that the decision to tweak policy rates was not in his hand as he himself is driven by the situation on the ground. In April, the RBI in a surprise move hit the pause button and decided to keep the key benchmark policy rate at 6.5 per cent. Prior to it, the RBI was on a rate hiking spree, raising the repo rate by 250 basis points since May 2022.

The Governor further said retail inflation has moderated, but there is no room for complacency. According to him, the next inflation print is expected to be lower than 4.7 per cent. The inflation based on the consumer price index was 4.7 in April. 

Das also assured that the Indian banking system remains stable and resilient with strong capital, liquidity position and improving asset quality. He said RBI will remain proactive and prudent, and will do its best to support the economy to maintain financial stability of India.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18309.80, down by 38.20 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 18269.70 and 18392.60. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 2.24%, Titan Company up by 1.23%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.22%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.18% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.99%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 5.21%, Adani Ports down by 1.91%, Tata Motors down by 1.22%, HDFC down by 1.12% and HDFC Bank down by 1.10% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Jakarta Composite gained 7.03 points or 0.1% to 6,736.68, KOSPI increased 10.47 points or 0.41% to 2,567.55, Straits Times rose 6.99 points or 0.22% to 3,218.08 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 7.14 points or 0.04% to 16,188.03. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite weakened 50.23 points or 1.55% to 3,246.24, Nikkei 225 slipped 129.05 points or 0.42% to 30,957.77 and Hang Seng was down by 246.92 points or 1.27% to 19,431.25.

European markets were trading mostly in red, France’s CAC fell 66.46 points or 0.9% to 7,411.70 and Germany’s DAX was down by 36.55 points or 0.23% to 16,187.44. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 12.08 points or 0.16% to 7,783.07.