Sensex ends 190 pts down; up 526 pts from day's low ahead of PM's address

All that happened in the markets today

Market participants witnessed a topsy-turvy session on Tuesday ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation at 8 pm today. Index heavyweights such as Reliance Industries (RIL), HDFC Bank, and Asian Paints contributed the most to the benchmark indices' fall while ITC, Bhart Airtel and HDFC gave the much-needed support. 

RIL came under selling pressure on profit booking. The stock will turn ex-rights tomorrow. 

Asian Paints ended 3 per cent lower after global brokerage firm Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to "Sell" with the target price of Rs 1,111. READ MORE

At the index level, the S&P BSE Sensex ended 190 point or 0.6 per cent lower at 31,371.12. During the day, the index hit a high and low of 31,536.89 and 30,844.66, respectively. Expectations of stimulus package boosted sentiment to an extent; however, weak global cues kept the investors cautious. 

On the NSE, the 50-share index Nifty ended just shy away of the crucial 9,200-mark at 9,196.55, down 43 points or 0.46 per cent. Volatility index, India VIX, gained 0.4 per cent to 38.19 levels. 

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index declined 0.75 per cent to 11,411 levels while the S&P BSE SmallCap index slipped 0.58 per cent to 10,566 points. 

Global markets

Asian shares tumbled on Tuesday on growing worries about a second wave of coronavirus infections after the Chinese city where the pandemic originated reported its first new cases since its lockdown was lifted. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside of Japan stumbled more than 1 per cent, snapping two straight sessions of gains.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was among the hardest hit, down 1.78 per cent followed closely by Australia , off 1.24 per cent. South Korea's KOSPI faltered 0.85 per cent. China's blue-chip CSI300 index was off 0.5 per cent after the country's factory prices fell at the sharpest rate in four years in April, worse than analysts' expectations.

In Europe, shares edged higher following a clutch of upbeat quarterly earnings reports, but investors remained cautious of a resurgence in new coronavirus cases as hard-hit economies lift lockdowns.

In oil market, Oil futures rose, boosted by an unexpected commitment from Saudi Arabia to deepen production cuts in June in a bid to help drain the glut in the global market that has built up as the coronavirus pandemic crushed fuel demand.

(With inputs from Reuters)

4:17 PM

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

Indian Indices closed in the negative, in sync with global markets. With virus infections continuing and PM Modi set to address the nation tonight, investors are awaiting news on how we plan to exit from the lockdown and what support the government will provide to the people and the businesses. Any perceived disappointment will be negative for the markets. 

4:01 PM

SECTOR WATCH | Here's how sectoral indices on NSE performed today

4:01 PM

MARKET AT CLOSE | Losers and gainers on the S&P BSE Sensex

3:36 PM

CLOSING BELL

The S&P BSE Sensex ended 190 points or 0.6 per cent lower at 31,371 while NSE's Nifty50 slipped 43 points or 0.46 per cent to 9,196.55 levels.

3:28 PM

MARKET CHECK | Top 5 gainers on the BSE at this hour

3:23 PM

MARKET UPDATE | RIL plunges nearly 7%; stock to turn ex-rights tomorrow

3:18 PM

ArcelorMittal offers $2 bn shares at discount to accelerate debt reduction

The company said on Tuesday it will sell $750 million of shares at a price of $9.27, equivalent to 8.57 euros. That is near to their value at Monday's close, when ArcelorMittal had said it would issue new shares, but some 17% down from Friday.

 

On Tuesday, the shares were trading 4.6% lower on the day at 8.23 euros, making them the worst performers in the FTSEurofirst300 index of leading European shares. READ MORE

3:07 PM

Bharti Airtel shares surge 5%, near record high

Shares of Bharti Airtel continued their northward journey for the third straight day, up 5 per cent at Rs 563, on the BSE on Tuesday. The stock was trading close to its record high level of Rs 569 touched on February 17, 2020. The stock of the telecom services provider has rallied 16 per cent in the two weeks, as compared to a 2.2 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. READ MORE

3:03 PM

MARKET CHECK

3:01 PM

MARKET CHECK :: Indices pare losses

2:58 PM

STOCK ALERT :: Vodafone Idea up for second straight day; gains 20% in 2 days

2:55 PM

NEWS ALERT :: IBA submits 'Bad Bank' proposal to Fin Min, RBI: TV reports

Alert: IBA is Indian Banks' Association

2:52 PM

BUZZING STOCK:: Bharti Airtel at day's high, up 4%

2:50 PM

Unsure whether India gains if businesses shift from China: Abhijit Banerjee

Speaking to a Bengali news channel ABP Ananda on Monday evening, Banerjee said that everyone is blaming China for the Covid-19 outbreak as it has origin there. "China is being blamed now for the coronavirus outbreak. Even people are saying that India stands to benefit as businesses will shift from China and come to India. But that may not be true," the economist said. READ MORE

2:41 PM

MARKET VOICE | Shyam Sekhar