Markets recover: Benchmark indices close day's session with minor losses; Vedanta, ITC, NTPC among top gainers

The stock markets made a Gap-down opening amidst weak global cues due to fears of an emerging second wave of coronavirus cases. The possible extension of domestic lockdown also impacted investor sentiments and the benchmark ended with a decline of 0.3 percent. A strong market recovery in the last hour was led by gains in banking stocks. All sectoral indices turned negative to mixed in the afternoon session and some recovery in index was witnessed. However, banking and pharma remained the top index under pressure. In stock specific front, Vedanta, ITC and NTP were the top gainers while Asian Paints, GAIL and Reliance ended as the top laggards. Going ahead, investors will keep a close eye on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation at 8 PM. At close, the Sensex was down 190.10 points or 0.60 percent at 31371.12, and the Nifty was down 42.65 points or 0.46 percent at 9196.55. About 889 shares have advanced, 1351 shares declined, and 172 shares are unchanged.

The domestic equities ended lower for the second straight day, pulled lower by Reliance Industries ahead of its ex-date 12 May. However contrary to the behavior over past few days, post 2 PM, the Nifty recovered sharply from the lows to end 0.5 percent lower at 9,196. Aviation, telecom, power and metal stocks rose while Reliance, pharma and banks/NBFCs fell, said Deepak Jasani, Head Retail Research, HDFC Securities. “Shares fell Tuesday in Asia as worries over fresh outbreaks of coronavirus cases overshadowed hopes over reopening economies. European stocks inched up Tuesday amid data showing new coronavirus cases slowed, The worldwide new-virus growth rate slowed down to 1.8 percent from 2.9 percent, according to Deutsche Bank-compiled data. Hopes of announcement of a fiscal package in or after the 8 PM address by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today, raised hopes among market participants. Technically, the Nifty has rebounded after breaching the 9,140 level. This bounce could take it up towards 9,380 in the near-term,” Jasani said. [caption id=“attachment_4437105” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Sumeet Bagadia, Executive Director, Choice Broking said, “Finally, the Nifty settled its closing 9,196 level with the loss of 42 points after giving a weak opening. During the trading session, the Index moved in a narrow range after an opening. However during the second half, we saw a good recovery due to few large cap constituents. During today’s trading session, Reliance was the main stock that dragged the Nifty lower. However Large Cap PVT Bank helped out the Index to pare losses. At the present level, the index has strong resistance at 9,335-9,350-level, while downside good support comes at 9,040-9,000 levels. Rupee settles 22 paise higher at 75.51 against US dollar The rupee surged 22 paise to close at 75.51 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday, amid a weak American currency in the overseas market. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 75.89, then pared the initial losses to finally settle at 75.51 against the US dollar, registering a rise of 22 paise over its previous close. During the day, the domestic unit hit an intra-day high of 75.49 and a low of 75.95 against the greenback. On Monday, the rupee had settled at 75.73 against the US dollar. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.13 per cent lower at 100.11. Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market, as they bought equity shares worth Rs 534.87 crore on Monday, according to provisional exchange data. Global stocks rally falters as virus, trade nerves linger Europe’s share markets, bond yields and the euro all inched higher on Tuesday, as mildly reassuring signals from China’s economy helped limit worries about a potential second wave of coronavirus infections. The mood was decidedly fragile, with five new virus cases in Wuhan - the original epicentre of the outbreak - renewed trade tensions and a tussle over negative US interest rates all part of the mix, Reuters said. London’s FTSE, Frankfurt’s DAX and Milan and Madrid clawed higher early on, but France’s CAC40 and Wall Street S&P 500 futures were stuck in the red after Asia had struggled overnight too. Global stocks have rebounded sharply in recent weeks as both Asia and Europe’s big economies have been able to stem coronavirus outbreaks. It has triggered a so-called fear of missing out, or “FOMO”, from investors. But uncertainty has remained. “We have had a rally that has not been loved by everybody,” said SEB investment management’s global head of asset allocation Hans Peterson. “That rally might continue for a while longer, but we have probably gone on to a bit of a consolidation phase for now,” he said, adding that how quickly China’s economy can reopen and then how Europe fares in the coming weeks will both be key. The latest signals from China had something for both the bulls and the bears. As well as Wuhan’s five new cases, China reported that factory prices dropped at the fastest rate in four years in April and it emerged that Beijing had suspended imports from four large Australian meat processors. But there was the first rise in car sales in 22 months to cheer and China’s foreign ministry also stressed the benefits of the recent Phase 1 US trade deal following a report that some officials were reconsidering the agreement. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside of Japan had ended down 0.8 percent, snapping two straight sessions of gains. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was among the hardest hit, down 1.45 percent followed closely by Australia which closed 1 percent lower. South Korea’s KOSPI faltered 0.7 percent too but China’s blue-chip CSI300 index managed to recover from an early dip. -– With inputs from agencies