Market Wrap Podcast, May 20: Here's all that happened in the markets today

Benchmark indices turned sharply lower during the fag-end of the session, after staying flat for the better part of the day, as US stock futures indicated a weak session on Wall Street later today.

Dalal Street investors took cues from Dow Jones Futures, which tumbled 160 points in early pre-market deals, and booked profit largely in metal, financials, and FMCG counters. S&P 500 and Nasdaq Futures also slipped 20 points and 60 points, respectively, suggesting a third straight session of declines in the US. That apart, weekly expiry of the F&O contracts added to the volatility.

By close, the BSE barometer of 30-shares was down 338 points, or 0.68 per cent, at 49,565 levels while the Nifty50 index quoted at 14,906 levels, down 124 points or 0.83 per cent. In the intra-day trade, the indices hit a low of 49,497 and 14,885, respectively.

Heavyweights HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, TCS, and HDFC contributed the most towards the indices' losses as they declined between 0.5 per cent and 1.5 pe cent.

Individually, Tata Steel, Hindalco, Coal India, Britannia, ONGC, IOC, Sun Pharma, Power Grid, UPL, and Tata Motors were the top laggards at the bourses in the large-cap space while M&M, Cipla, BPCL, IndusInd Bank, Titan, L&T, and SBI remained top gainers.

Sectorally, metal stocks came under pressure today after China said it will strengthen its management of commodity supply and demand to curb any "unreasonable" increases in prices. Prices for commodities such as coal, steel, iron ore and copper – of which China is the world's biggest user – have surged this year, fuelled by post-lockdown recoveries in demand and easing liquidity globally.

In effect, the Nifty Metal index tanked over 3 per cent with Tata Steel, Steel Authority of India (SAIL), and Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) sliding 5 per cent each, while Coal India, National Aluminium Company, NMDC, Vedanta, and JSW Steel declining between 2 per cent and 4 per cent in the intra-day trade. However, analysts suggest using these corrections as an opportunity to enter the stocks as fundamentals remain positive.

That apart, the Nifty Bank, Financial Services, Private Bank, and FMCG indices slipped nearly 1 per cent each. On the upside, the Nifty Realty index remained gainer for the second straight day and ended 1 per cent higher on the NSE.

Cheap valuations, however, drew investors towards smallcaps. The S&P BSE SmallCap index hit a record high of 23,093 levels in the intra-day trade today but closed at 22,980.5 levels, up 0.22 per cent. Among individual stocks, Automotive Axles, Gayatri Projects, Shakti Pumps, Pokarna, TV Today, TCI Express, Just Dial, H.G. Infra Engineering, Shivam Auto and Emami Realty rallied between 10 per cent and 20 per cent in the intra-day session today.

The S&P BSE MidCap index, meanwhile, ended 0.12 per cent lower today.

Among individual stocks in the broader market space, fertiliser stocks gained ground at the bourses on Thursday after the Centre increased its share of subsidy for di-ammonia phosphate (DAP) by 140 per cent from Rs 500 to Rs 1,200 per bag.

Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals, Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers (RCF), Deepak Fertilisers, Coromandel International, Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals (GNFC) and Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals (GSFC) gained in the range of 3 per cent to 9 per cent on the BSE in the intra-day trade today.

That apart, shares of Tata Coffee rose 4 per cent and hit an all-time high of Rs 185.80 on the BSE. The stock of the Tata Group Company surpassed its previous high of Rs 183.45, touched on November 29, 2017. In the past one month, Tata Coffee has outperformed the market by zooming 60 per cent, as compared to 4.5 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.

Shares of JK Tyre and Industries on Thursday jumped over 6 per cent after the company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 194.96 crore for the March quarter of the previous fiscal. The stock rose by 6.18 per cent to Rs 131.25 on BSE.

Lastly, shares of Zee Entertainment settled 0.6 per cent lower on the BSE today ahead of the announcement of the company's Q4 result. The media company reported a net profit of Rs 276 crore for the quarter, down 64 per cent YoY. It's revenue rose 1 per cent to Rs 1,966 crore.

Meanwhile, the retail quota of the Axis Bank offer for sale (OFS) managed to garner just 28 per cent subscription. A total of 5.8 million shares were reserved for retail investors; however, they bid only for 1.66 million shares. The unsubscribed portion of the OFS will be allotted to non-retail investors.

Global markets
 

World stocks traded with gains across most regions. In Europe, the pan-European STOXX 600 index added 0.5 per cent while Germany's DAX was up 0.24 per cent. France's CAC 40 index, too, climbed 0.15 per cent in early deals.

In Asia, barring South Korea's Kospi, which slipped 0.34 per cent, all other major indices ended with gains. Japan's Nikkei was last up 0.2 per cent, Australia's S&P/ASX200 advanced 1.3 per cent, and China's CSI300 index rallied 0.3 per cent.