Sensex falls 64 pts; smallcaps outperform; SBI Life jumps 5%, RIL drops 2%

SBI Life (up over 5 per cent) settled the day as the top Nifty gainer, trailed by Bharti Airtel, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, HUL, Asian Paints, and Maruti Suzuki

4:50 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities

Indian benchmark equity indices recovered from the early losses on May 03 and ended on flat note in a highly volatile trade. The Nifty opened lower in line with other Asian markets and post the unexciting performance of BJP in the recently concluded state elections but rose in early trade. Post 1400 Hrs another sharp rise followed.   At close, the Nifty was up 3.10 points or 0.02% at 14634.20.

 

Nifty bounced up smartly from the intra day lows going against the Asian negative mood. 14694-14747 is the next resistance band for the Nifty while 14493 is the support level. Broader market continues to do well as is clear from the positive advance decline ratio while frontline stocks remain volatile based on institutional flows. 

 

4:40 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking

Markets ended almost unchanged in a highly volatile trading session following mixed cues. The benchmark opened lower, in response to rising COVID cases, state elections outcome and profit taking in the global indices. It continued to hover in a narrow range as the session progressed however recovery in the last hour aided the index to close on a flat note. Amid all, the buoyancy on the broader front kept the traders busy. Amongst the sectors, a mixed trend was witnessed wherein telecom, metal and healthcare ended with gains whereas consumer durables, oil & gas and banking traded under pressure.

 

We maintain our cautious stance on the markets given the uncertainty surrounding the rising COVID-19 cases. However, supportive global cues, strong earnings expectation and ramp up in vaccination drive could keep the downside limited. We suggest focusing on themes which are attracting noticeable buying interest amid uncertainty.

4:27 PM

TECH VIEW :: Sumeet Bagadia, Executive Director at Choice Broking

Technically, the Nifty has closed near the Middle Bollinger Band & 21 days Simple Moving Averages, which could be an immediate hurdle for the index. Moreover, the index has indicated negative crossover on the daily chart, which suggests some weakness for the near term. At present, the Nifty index has a support at 14400 levels while an upside resistance seems at 14800 levels

4:18 PM

TECH VIEW :: Rohit Singre, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities

Index opened a day with a strong gap down but managed to recover all day loses in the second half and closed a day at 14634 with minimal loss & formed a bullish candle on daily chart. The overall structure still looks cautious until trading below 14800 zones, on the higher side index, has stiff hurdle at 14720-14800 zone profit booking is suggested around said levels fresh breakout will be only above 14800 zone and good supports are placed at 14550-14500 zone

4:09 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

The domestic market bounced back from its early losses to trade flat owing to global cues and strong buying seen in FMCG and metal stocks. Financial stocks were the top laggards due to weak results of mid-sized banks & NBFCs while buying interest was seen in small-cap stocks. India’s Manufacturing PMI data in April was flat at 55.5 with a mild change from March’s data of 55.4% mainly due to pick up in international demand for Indian goods

4:00 PM

MARKET RECAP :: S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities

A fantastic recovery led by Metals with a host of stocks in the broader markets from Sugar to Rice to Tea and Coffee kept the screen lively in a highly volatile trading session. Investors were seen accumulating several Largecaps as well as high-quality Midcaps across sectors

3:58 PM

Primary market action :: PowerGrid InviT IPO sails through

>> Issue subsribed 3.8x till 3:30 PM on Day 3

3:56 PM

BSE Snapshot :: Market breadth favours advances in the ratio of 2:1

3:54 PM

Broader market :: BSE SmallCap index outperforms mid, large-cap peers

3:52 PM

NSE Snapshot :: Top Nifty50 gainers today

3:50 PM

BSE Snapshot :: Stocks that saw highest turnover on the BSE today

3:49 PM

Top losers on the BSE today

3:48 PM

Top gainers on the BSE today

3:46 PM

RIL, Axis Bank :: Stocks that dragged the Sensex lower today

3:44 PM

Sectoral trends on the NSE :: Metals continue to shine; banks under pressure

3:39 PM

Sensex recoups opening losses, ends mildly lower

3:34 PM

CLOSING BELL

Among the headline indices, the BSE barometer S&P BSE Sensex settled the day at 48,718.5 levels, down 64 points or 0.13 per cent. The index hit a low of 48,028 in the opening deals but rose swiftly through the day to touch a high of 48,863 in late noon deals.

 

On the NSE, the Nifty50 index closed at 14,634 levels, up 3 points or 0.02 per cent, after hitting an intra-day high of 14,674. 

3:26 PM

NEWS ALERT :: Govt makes payment for 11 cr vaccine doses

3:15 PM

Covid impact: Barclays cuts India's FY22 GDP growth forecast to 10%

Blaming the slow pace of vaccinations and uncertainty around the number of those infected and dead in the second COVID-19 wave, global brokerage firm Barclays cut India's FY22 GDP growth estimate to 10 per cent from earlier 11 per cent.

 

If the ongoing localised lockdowns continue till June, it will lead to economic losses of USD 38.4 billion, it said. READ MORE

3:01 PM

MARKET UPDATE:: HUL, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance among top contributors to Sensex's recovery today

2:58 PM

March Quarter Results :: SBI Life

>> Profit: Rs 530 crore, flat YoY

>> Net premium income: Rs 15,560 cr vs Rs 11,860 cr YoY

2:58 PM

OPEC's share of Indian oil imports plunges to two decade low

OPEC's share of India's oil imports fell to the lowest in at least two decades in the year to the end of March as overall purchases by Asia's third largest economy fell to a six-year low, data obtained from industry and trade sources showed. Total crude imports by the world's third-biggest oil importer fell to 3.97 million barrels per day (bpd) in the 2021 fiscal year to March 31, down 11.8% from a year earlier, the data showed. READ MORE

2:52 PM

European markets check

(Source: Reuters)

2:42 PM

Sugar stocks on a roll; Dwarikesh, Dhampur, Uttam, Dalmia soar over 15%

Shares of sugar companies were on a roll at the bourses, on Monday, with Bajaj Hindustan, Dwarikesh Sugar Industries, Dhampur Sugar Mills, Avadh Sugar & Energy, Uttam Sugar Mills and Dalmia Bharat Sugar and Industries rallying between 15 per cent and 20 per cent, in an otherwise weak market, on healthy outlook. READ MORE

2:36 PM

MARKET CHECK :: Sensex stages smart recovery

2:32 PM

Oil drops towards $66 as India demand concerns weigh

Oil dropped towards $66 a barrel on Monday as concern about demand in India and higher OPEC+ supply offset optimism over rising demand in other major consumers such as China and the United States.

 

India on Monday reported more than 300,000 new coronavirus cases for a 12th straight day. The new wave of the virus has already led to a drop in fuel sales in the world's third-largest consumer in April. READ MORE

2:32 PM

Oil drops towards $66 as India demand concerns weigh

Oil dropped towards $66 a barrel on Monday as concern about demand in India and higher OPEC+ supply offset optimism over rising demand in other major consumers such as China and the United States. India on Monday reported more than 300,000 new coronavirus cases for a 12th straight day. The new wave of the virus has already led to a drop in fuel sales in the world's third-largest consumer in April. Brent crude fell 31 cents, or 0.5%, to $66.45 a barrel by 0815 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was down 19 cents, or 0.3%, at $63.39. READ MORE

2:20 PM

NEWS ALERT :: Cadila health in focus

2:20 PM

Top Sensex drags at this hour

2:19 PM

SBI allocates Rs 70 crore to combat second wave of Covid-19

State Bank of India (SBI) has allocated Rs 71 crore to support various initiatives in combating the second wave of Covid-19 and is in talks with various designated authorities to explore partnerships for setting up makeshift hospitals.

 

The country's largest commercial bank has dedicated Rs 30 crore to set up 1,000 bed makeshift hospitals, 250 bed ICU facilities and 1,000 bed isolation facilities across some of the worst-hit states. READ MORE