MARKET WRAP: RIL, HUL help Sensex end 199 pts up; Nifty settles at 9,251

All that happened in the markets today

Benchmark indices once again failed to hold on to the day's high levels on Friday and pared most of its gains at the end of the session, amid selling in financial, auto and metal stocks. However, oil-to-telecom behemoth Reliance Industries (RIL) and FMCG giant Hindustan Unilever (HUL) helped indices settle in the positive territory. 

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 31,642.70, up 199 points or 0.63 per cent, with HUL (up nearly 5 per cent) being the top gainer and NTPC (down nearly 4 per cent) the biggest loser. 

On the NSE, the benchmark Nifty ended at 9,251.50, up 52 points or 0.57 per cent. Volatility index, India VIX, declined nearly 3.5 per cent to 38.53 levels.  

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index ended flat at 11,423.81 while the  S&P BSE SmallCap index slipped 0.45 per cent to 10,638.70 levels. 

Global Markets

Global shares rallied on Friday as investors cheered signs of improving Sino-American relations and looked towards more governments gradually reopening their economies. Top US and Chinese trade representatives discussed their Phase 1 trade deal on Friday, with China saying they agreed to improve the atmosphere for its implementation and the United States saying both sides expected obligations to be met.

The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.6 per cent, boosted by a 5.1 per cent jump in Siemens after the German industrial company announced cost-cut plans to deal with the impact of the pandemic following an 18 per cent drop in industrial profit in the second quarter.

In commodities, oil prices climbed as countries including Australia moved ahead with plans to relax economic and social lockdowns put in place to halt the coronavirus pandemic, kindling market hopes for a boost in demand for crude and its products.

Brent crude was up by 87 cents, or 3 per cent, at $30.33 a barrel at the time of writing of this report, having fallen nearly 1 per cent on Thursday. US oil gained $1.12, or 4.8 per cent, to $24.67 a barrel, after a decline of nearly 2 per cent in the previous session.

(With inputs from Reuters)

4:13 PM

Technical Observation by Nagaraj Shetti - Technical Analyst, HDFC Securities

After showing narrow range movement in the last few sessions, Nifty made an attempt to move up in today's session, but was not able to close at the higher end of the day. A reasonable negative candle was formed today after opening higher, which indicates a formation of counter attack type candle pattern. Today's pattern indicates sell on rise action in the market. This is not a good sign for bulls to make a comeback.

 

The bearish island reversal pattern of 4th May is still intact. Both the up and down gaps are open after four sessions of its formation. The downside pattern target is at 8,900 levels.

 

A long negative candle was formed in Nifty on the weekly chart, after a sharp rise of last week. This pattern could signal lower top reversal for the Nifty around 9,900 levels. Hence, follow-through weakness in the next week could trigger further declines in the market ahead.

 

The short term trend of Nifty is range bound with slight positive bias. The overall chart pattern indicates possibility of weakness in the next week. Any attempt of upside bounce is likely to halt around 9,400 levels. The downside levels to be watched for the next week is 8,900 or lower. Immediate support is placed at 9,150.

4:05 PM

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

"Nifty fluctuated around 150 points in another day of volatile trades, tracking uncertainty in the markets. Gains were led by Reliance, which succeeded in another round of fundraising even in this adverse scenario. Global market trends were also positive following attempts to defuse tensions around the US- China trade talks. While the earnings season has been lacklustre, markets seem to be awaiting announcement of a stimulus package from the government".

3:47 PM

Sectoral gainers and losers on the NSE

3:43 PM

MARKET AT CLOSE | Gainers and losers on the S&P BSE Sensex

3:36 PM

CLOSING BELL

The S&P BSE Sensex ended 199 points or 0.63 per cent higher at 31,642.70 while NSE's Nifty settled at 9,251.50, up 52 points or 0.57 per cent. 

3:28 PM

MARKET CHECK

3:26 PM

India's credit profile to face further pressure due to Covid-19: Moody's

The sharp slowdown in growth will deepen with a national lockdown to contain the coronavirus being extended till May 17. “For India, we expect a sharp slowdown in growth, with real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth averaging 0.2% in the 2020 calendar year, down from our previous forecast of 2.5%.”, Moody’s said in statement. Its rating of the India government is Baa2 with negative outlook. READ MORE  

3:19 PM

MARKET UPDATE | Axis Bank slips over 4%

3:10 PM

NEWS ALERT | SBI Cards slips around 3% as Q4 profit comes in at Rs 83.5 cr Vs 249 cr YoY

>> Gross NPA at 2.01% vs 2.44% (YOY)

3:09 PM

SECTOR WATCH:: FMCG stocks largely in the green, led by HUL, up 5%

3:06 PM

NEWS ALERT SC agrees to hear plea seeking interest waiver for RBI -prescribed moratorium period owing to lockdown.

(as reported by CNBC TV-18)

3:04 PM

RIL repositioning as consumer, tech co may push up stock price: J P Morgan

After the Facebook (FB) and Silver Lake stake sale in Jio Platforms (JPL), RIL has announced a deal to sell a 2.23 per cent stake in Jio Platforms (JPL) to Vista Partners for US $ 1.5 billion. This takes the total equity flow into JPL to $ 7.95 billion for a total equity sale of 13.45 per cent. "We expect the news flow and expectations of 'similar sized deals' to continue to drive near-term stock outperformance as it allows investors to look through near-term earnings weakness", JP Morgan said in a research. READ MORE  

RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani

2:53 PM

Goldman Sachs, Nomura lower FY21 GDP estimate for India; see more rate cuts

Global research and broking houses – Goldman Sachs and Nomura – have sharply cut their economic growth projections for India for financial year 2020-21 (FY21) and expect the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to cut rates sharply to stem the economic rout caused by the lockdown on account of Covid-19 pandemic. READ MORE 

2:46 PM

AIIB extends $500 mn loan to India to deal with coronavirus crisis

The project is funded by AIIB’s Covid-19 Crisis Recovery Facility, created to adapt to urgent financing needs of the bank’s members impacted by the pandemic, the bank said in a statement.

 

The bank's board of directors has approved a loan to India to strengthen the preparedness of the country’s national health system. READ MORE

2:36 PM

Amid coronavirus lockdown, steel demand pick-up off to a slow start

In the past couple of days, a number of automakers, including Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp, Mercedes Benz India, Eicher Motors, TVS Motor, and Isuzu Motors India, have announced they have got clearance from the government to resume operations. Construction activities, too, have resumed, albeit in a staggered manner. In some pockets there is also demand for yellow goods. No doubt, between Lockdown 1.0 and 3.0, there has been an improvement in demand, but steel companies view this as too little. READ MORE