Stocks staged mild recovery in mid-morning trade after seeing steep intraday slide. At 11:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 295.44 points or 0.84% at 34,873.72. The Nifty 50 index was down 121.50 points or 1.15% at 10,477.75. Shares from oil & gas sectors dropped sharply. Negative Asian stocks weighed on the sentiment.
Volatility ruled the roost in early trade as the key benchmark indices cut initial losses triggered by negative Asian stocks. The Sensex regained the psychological 35,000 level soon after sliding below that level in early trade. Fresh selling pulled the key benchmark indices to intraday low in morning trade.
Investors are closely awaiting the outcome of Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s three-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting today, 5 October 2018. The resolution of the MPC will be unveiled at 14:30 IST today, 5 October 2018.
The trading activity on that day showed that the foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 2760.63 crore yesterday, 4 October 2018, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1823.59 crore yesterday, 4 October 2018, as per provisional data.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.78%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.4%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On the BSE, 879 shares rose and 1321 shares fell. A total of 107 shares were unchanged.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries dropped 2.68%.
Oil & gas stocks declined on reports the government has asked the PSU OMCs to absorb Rs 1 per litre on sales of petrol and diesel respectively. Among PSU OMCs, HPCL (down 21.58%), BPCL (down 18.45%), and Indian Oil Corporation (down 13.95%) edged lower.
Shares of oil exploration and production (E&P) companies dropped. ONGC (down 12.24%) and Oil India (down 10.56%) edged higher.
Shares of state-run gas transmission and distribution firm GAIL (India) dropped 7.61%.
Overseas, Asian shares dropped after benchmark US Treasury yields surged to a seven-year high and strong economic data fanned concerns about inflation and the risk of faster-than-expected interest rate rises. US stocks dropped yesterday, 4 October 2018 as as US Treasury yields continued their ascent to multi-year highs on the latest round of strong economic data, building concerns for an acceleration of inflation.
Investors will keep a close eye on monthly US payrolls report due later in the global day after the sell-off in bonds that's been in part triggered by data underscoring the strength of the American economy. Investors are looking for signs of wage growth that could accelerate Fed tightening plans in the US government's September jobs report.
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