The domestic equity market ended Monday's choppy session on a flat note as market participants chose to stay on the sidelines in the absence of any clear signs with respect to Coronavirus (Covid-19) cases in India. Moreover, a crash in crude oil prices and weak global markets also dented investor sentiment.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended 59 points or 0.19 per cent higher at 31,648 levels, with HDFC Bank (up around 4 per cent) being the top gainer, followed by Infosys (up 3.75 per cent) and Sun Pharma (up 3.6 per cent).
On the NSE, the benchmark index Nifty ended at 9,262, down 5 points or 0.05 per cent.
Sectorally, metal stocks cracked the most with the Nifty Metal index ending over 3 per cent lower at 1,758 levels. Out of 15 constituents, 13 ended in the red and just 2 in the green after Indian Steel Association (ISA) said Indian steel demand is expected to plunge to multi-year lows in 2020, hit by slowdowns in the construction, automotive and rail sectors as India fights the coronavirus with a protracted lockdown.
Auto, FMCG, and private bank stocks also slipped in the trade. Nifty Auto fell 1.7 per cent to 5,592 points while Nifty FMCG fell around 2 per cent to 28,634 levels. Nifty Private Bank index ended at 11,081.45, down over 1 per cent while Nifty Bank fell a per cent at 20,514.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index ended at 11,799, down 0.21 per cent while the S&P BSE SmallCap gained 0.8 per cent to 10,887 levels.
Among individual stocks, IT major Infosys ended around 4 per cent higher at Rs 652.90 apiece on the BSE ahead of its March quarter results.
Shares of HDFC Bank rose 6 per cent to Rs 961 on the BSE during the day after the bank’s net interest income (NII) grew 16.2 per cent year-on-year (YoY) at Rs 15,204 crore in the January-March quarter (Q4FY20), exceeding Street expectations. The stock ended at Rs 946m up nearly 4 per cent. READ MORE
Global markets
Caution recaptured world markets on Monday as another drubbing for US crude oil futures kicked off a week of data and earnings that will drive home the damage being inflicted by global coronavirus lockdowns.
European stocks made a choppy start, with the pan-regional swinging in and out of positive territory in early trading. London's FTSE and Germany's DAX were up 0.2 per cent.
In commodity markets, oil prices fell, depressed by concerns US storage facilities will soon be full as the novel coronavirus pandemic destroys demand and as companies prepare to report their worst quarterly earnings since the 2008 financial crisis.
Brent was down 73 cents, or 2.6 per cent, to $27.35 a barrel at the time of writing of this report. The front-month May WTI contract fell $3.53, or 19.3 per cent, to $14.74 a barrel.
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