Post Session: Quick Review

Tuesday turned out to be a worst day for Indian equity markets, with Sensex and Nifty falling around 6% each, after trends showed that INDIA block has put up a better fight than anticipated and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA is unlikely to win with a huge margin. Indices made a gap-down opening, as Election Commission of India (ECI) began counting of votes at 8 AM. Some cautiousness came in as S&P Global Market Intelligence asserts that weak private consumption in India remains the largest concern, with rural demand in particular still straggling to catch up, at a time when the country's overall growth remains strong. For the second consecutive quarter, India's real GDP growth exceeded most forecasts, bringing the full financial year 2023-24 growth to 8.2 per cent. 

A bloodbath continued over the Dalal Street during the whole trading session. Adding more worries among traders, credit rating agency India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest report has predicted that FY24 was a bittersweet year for the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), with the average resolution time jumping to a four-year high and the recovery levels at their lowest for corporate debtors (CDs) and financial creditors (FCs) in the past four years. Meanwhile, the capital markets regulator Sebi introduced a mobile app designed to demystify personal finance for investors with a suite of comprehensive tools.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower, after Germany's unemployment rate remained unchanged in April. According to the results of the labor force survey, published by Destatis, the unemployment rate held steady at adjusted 3.2 percent in April. The number of unemployed decreased only 1,000 or 0.1 percent to 1.42 million. Asian markets ended mixed, after the manufacturing sector in Thailand bounced back up into expansion territory in May, with a manufacturing PMI score of 50.3. That's up from 48.6 in April and it moves above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

Back home, steels stocks were in watch, as credit rating agency ICRA in its latest report revised its outlook growth target for domestic steel demand to 9-10 per cent for the current fiscal (FY25) as compared to the earlier estimate of 7-8 per cent, on healthy government spending and demand from steel-consuming sectors. It said the domestic steel consumption registered a growth of 11.3 per cent between February to April 2024. Besides, the port and shipping industry stocks remained in focus with report that cargo traffic across 12 major ports in the country increased by 3.75 per cent year-on-year in May to 72.04 million tones (MT) from 69.43 MT handled in the corresponding month of 2023 with nine such ports showing positive growth.

The BSE Sensex ended at 72079.05, down by 4389.73 points or 5.74% after trading in a range of 70234.43 and 76300.46. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.(Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 8.07%, while Small cap index was down by 6.79%.(Provisional)

The only gaining sectoral index on the BSE was FMCG up by 0.15%, while PSU down by 15.68%, Utilities down by 14.40%, Power down by 14.25%, Oil & Gas down by 13.07% and Capital Goods down by 12.06% were the top losing indices on BSE.(Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 5.74%, Nestle up by 3.29%, TCS up by 0.61%, HCL Tech. up by 0.27% and Asian Paints up by 0.18%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 14.79%, SBI down by 13.67%, Larsen & Toubro down by 12.34%, Power Grid down by 11.16% and Tata Steel down by 8.24% were the top losers.(Provisional)

Meanwhile, Indian Ports Association (IPA) in its latest data has showed that cargo traffic across 12 major ports in the country increased by 3.75 per cent year-on-year in May 2024 to 72.04 million tones (MT) from 69.43 MT handled in the corresponding month of 2023 with nine such ports showing positive growth. Visakhapatnam Port registered the maximum cargo growth in cargo handling at 22.05 per cent during the reporting month followed by Chennai Port with 9.10 per cent, Cochin Port with 7.78 per cent and Mumbai Port with 5.89 per cent. 

The 12 major ports are Deendayal (Kandla), Mumbai, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Ennore (Kamarajar), Tuticorin (V O Chidambaranar), Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia) and Jawaharlal Nehru Port. According to the data, VO Chidambaranar Port saw a 5.59 per cent increase in its cargo handling during May 2024 while Paradip Port 4.27 per cent, Deendayal Port with 3.49 per cent, New Mangalore Port with 1.87 per cent and JNPA with 1.78 per cent. The ports, which saw a decline in cargo handling during May 2024 include SMP, Kolkata Port with 15.70 drop followed by Kamarajar Port and Mormugao Port, which witnessed 3.58 per cent and 10.55 decline, as per the IPA.

At Kolkata's Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, the overall traffic decreased by 15.70 per cent during the previous month, it said, adding Kolkata Dock System (KDS) traffic declined by 7.71 per cent and at Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) by 18.32 per cent. IPA attributed the fall in cargo handling traffic at KDS to reduction in coking and other coal by -71.75 per cent and finished fertilizers by 43.53 per cent, among others. It also said that during May 2024, Deendayal Port handled the highest traffic volume at 12.71 MT and commanded a 17.64 per cent share of the total cargo handled across 12 ports. This was followed by Paradip Port with 12.64 MT and 17.55 per cent share, Visakhapatnam Port at 8.57 MT with 11.90 per cent share, JNPA at 7.45 MT with 10.34 per cent share and Mumbai Port at 5.79 MT with 8.04 per cent share.

The CNX Nifty ended at 21884.50, down by 1379.40 points or 5.93% after trading in a range of 21281.45 and 23179.50. There were 8 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index.(Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindustan Unilever up by 5.96%, Nestle up by 3.09%, Britannia up by 3.04%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.91% and Tata Consumer Products up by 1.67%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 21.15%, Adani Enterprises down by 19.31%, ONGC down by 16.83%, NTPC down by 15.45% and SBI down by 14.40% were the top losers.(Provisional)

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 52.99 points or 0.65% to 8,209.76, France’s CAC fell 69.4 points or 0.88% to 7,928.62 and Germany’s DAX lost 213.81 points or 1.16% to 18,394.35.