Market Wrap, May 22: Here's all that happened in the markets today

The domestic equity market ended in the negative territory on Friday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to cut the policy rate by 40 basis points from 4.4 per cent to 4 per cent to trim the impact of coronavirus on the economy. That apart, the central bank also extended the moratorium on loan repayments by three more months, resulting in sell-off in financial stocks. 

Nifty Bank today tumbled over 2.5 per cent to 17,279 levels while Nifty Private Bank declined around 3 per cent to 9,421.55 points, with 8 out of 10 constituents ending in the red.

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex shed 260 points or 0.84 per cent to settle at 30,672.59. HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank contributed the most to the Sensex's fall. On the other hand, IT majors, Infosys and TCS, supported the index.

NSE's Nifty ended at 9,039, down 67 points or 0.74 per cent. 

On a weekly basis, Sensex slipped 1.36 per cent and Nifty declined 1 per cent. 

Among individual stocks, SBI Cards hit new low of Rs 495 on the BSE after the RBI announced an extension of the moratorium on loan EMIs by three months. The stock ended at Rs 510, down 6 per cent.

RIL ended over 0.5 per cent lower at Rs 1,431.60 after the company announced that investment firm KKR will invest Rs 11,367 crore in Jio Platforms. 

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index fell 0.83 per cent to 11,270  whereas the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended at 10,524.23, down 0.23 per cent.   
 

Global markets

World stocks took a hit on Friday as China moved to impose a new security law on Hong Kong after last year’s pro-democracy unrest, further straining fast-deteriorating US-China ties. Additionally, news that China has dropped its annual growth target for the first time added to concern about the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Among Asian shares, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slid more than 5 per cent to a seven-week low, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 2.7 per cent.

Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.8 per cent, while US stock futures fell almost 1 per cent -- pointing to a weak open for Wall Street.

European shares, too, opened broadly lower. 

In commodities, oil prices fell over 5 per cent towards $34 a barrel as tensions rose between the United States and China, and doubts grew about the pace of demand recovery from the coronavirus crisis.