Shares trade near day's low; auto shares skid

The benchmark indices hovered near the day's low in mid-morning trade. The Nifty was trading below the 9,400 mark. At 11:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 1744.04 points or 5.17% at 31,973.58. The Nifty 50 index was down 501.40 points or 5.09% at 9,358.50.

Global cues were weak following the latest flare up in US-China tensions. Extension of the nationwide lock-down in India for another two-weeks and continuous selling by foreign investors also weighed on the investor sentiment.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 4.11% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 3.17%. Both the indices outperformed the benchmark Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On the BSE, 425 shares rose and 1696 shares fell. A total of 144 shares were unchanged. In the Nifty 50 index, 3 shares advanced while 47 shares declined.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold Indian equities worth Rs 6802.12 crore in April 2020. The FPIs have sold equities worth Rs 72,927.70 crore in 2020 so far.

Economy:

The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit India Manufacturing PMI slumped to 27.4 in April from 51.8 in March. The latest reading pointed to the sharpest deterioration in business conditions across the sector since data collection began over 15 years ago.

Commenting on the latest survey results, Eliot Kerr, Economist at IHS Markit, said: "After making it through March relatively unscathed, the Indian manufacturing sector felt the full force of the coronavirus pandemic in April."In the latest survey period, record contractions in output, new orders and employment pointed to a severe deterioration in demand conditions. Meanwhile, there was evidence of unprecedented supply-side disruption, with input delivery times lengthening to the greatest extent since data collection began in March 2005."There was a hint of positivity when looking at firms' 12-month outlooks, with sentiment towards future activity rebounding from March's record low. That said, the degree of optimism remained well below the historical average."

Stocks in Spotlight :

Shares of auto manufacturers tumbled after weak auto sales in April 2020. The Nifty Auto index was down 6.64% at 5,509.55. The index surged 9.75% in the previous four trading sessions.

Car major Maruti Suzuki India was down 7.50% to Rs 4958.50. The company posted zero domestic sales in April 2020. Meanwhile, following resumption of port operations at the Mundra Port, the company exported 632 units during the month.

Mahindra & Mahindra fell 5.10% to Rs 347.90. The company posted zero domestic sales in April 2020. M&M sold 733 vehicles in the export market during April 2020 as against 2118 units sold in the corresponding period last year, falling 65% on a year-on-year (YoY) basis.

M&M's Farm Equipment Sector (FES) recorded total tractor sales (domestic + exports) of 4,772 units during April 2020, registering an 83% YoY decline from 28,552 units sold in the same period last year. While the company's domestic tractor sales also contracted by 83% to 4716 units, tractor exports witnessed an even greater fall of 95% as it stood at 56 units in April 2020 over April 2019.

SML Isuzu was down 5.49% to Rs 366.70. The company posted zero sales in April 2020 compared with 488 units in March 2020.

Bajaj Auto tumbled 5.81% to Rs 2475. The company posted recorded zero domestic sales in April 2020. It however, exported 32,009 units of 2-wheelers and 5,869 units of commercial vehicles during the month.

TVS Motor Company lost 5.53% to Rs 309.90. The company posted recorded zero domestic sales in April 2020. The company, however, shipped 8,134 units of two-wheelers and 1,506 three-wheelers during the month following resumption of operations at Chennai Port.

Eicher Motors fell 4.83% to Rs 13990. Royal Enfield, the two-wheeler division of Eicher Motors, reported sales of 91 units for the month of April 2020.

Escorts fell 4.98% to Rs 677.40. The company's Agri Machinery Segment (EAM) in April 2020 sold 705 tractors, down by 86.6% from 5,264 tractors sold in April 2019. While domestic tractor sales tumbled 87.7% to 613 units, exports contracted by 66.9% to 92 units in April 2020 over April 2019.

Global Markets:

Overseas, Asian stocks were trading lower as US-China tensions weigh on investor sentiment. Markets in China, Japan and Thailand are closed on Monday for holidays.

In the US, Wall Street sold off sharply on Friday after President Donald Trump revived a threat of new tariffs against China in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has brought global economies to a grinding halt.

The US President announced that his administration was crafting retaliatory measures against China as punishment for the coronavirus outbreak, giving rise to tariff fears that rattled markets through much of the last two years. Trump has reportedly blamed the Asian major for what he says is misinformation when the virus emerged from the Chinese city of Wuhan and then quickly spread around the world.

A mixed bag of earnings, particularly a disappointing report from Amazon.com, along with a fresh round of dismal economic data, also weighed on sentiment.

While Amazon.com expressed the possibility of the company reporting its first quarterly loss in five years due to the coronavirus pandemic, Apple Inc declined to provide current-quarter forecasts despite the iPhone maker posting good quarterly result.

Shares of Tesla tumbled over 10% after company Chief Executive Elon Musk said in a tweet that the electric car maker's stock price was too high.

U.S. manufacturing activity skidded to an 11-year low last month as lockdowns shuttered factories, according to the Institute for Supply Management's purchasing managers index.

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