Markets trade in red after 3-day weekend: Sensex down over 215 points, Nifty hold above 9,000-mark in opening session

Indian shares slipped on Monday as Asia’s third-biggest economy looked set to extend a lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus, while a rise in oil prices also weighed on sentiment. The benchmark indices opened lower on 13 April with Nifty around 9,050-level. In the opening session, the Sensex was down 216.69 points or 0.70 percent at 30942.93, and the Nifty down 54.75 points or 0.60 percenat at 9,057.15. About 836 shares have advanced, 394 shares declined, and 73 shares are unchanged.

The NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.55 percent to 9,069.55 by 0348 GMT, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.45 percent at 31,000.67 as trading resumed after a three-day weekend. Aditya Agarwala, Senior Technical Analyst, YES Securities, said: The Indian markets were scheduled to resume trade this Monday on a slightly muted note as indicated by the SGX Nifty, which is currently trading mildly lower by 20 points from Thursday’s close. Early risers in Asia are also trading soft as NIKKEI is trading down by 0.7 percent, KOSPI is trading weak by 0.80 percent, SHANGHAI and JAKARTA are trading lower by 0.30 percent a piece. This opening weakness is steered by the US Markets where Dow Jones Futures and S&P500 Futures are currently trading in the red with cuts in excess of 1 percent. “Coming back to the Indian markets, Nifty ended a truncated week consisting of three trading sessions with significant gains of 12.72 percent, closing beyond its 20-DMA for the first time after 20 February. However, it is going to face stiff resistances at 9150 & 9300 being cluster of previous highs and upper end of a rising wedge pattern respectively. On the downside immediate supports are placed at 9000 & 8720 being the 20-DMA and Fibonacci retracement level. Failure to take out the upper end of the rising wedge pattern i.e. 9,300 can trigger fresh round of selling dragging the Indian markets considerably lower.” Pharma stocks were the exception and were trading higher on the bourses.

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India will extend the 21-day lockdown due to end Tuesday, according to a state chief minister with knowledge of discussions among top officials, although the federal government has yet to make an announcement. As of Sunday, the country has reported 8,356 confirmed cases and 273 deaths, Reuters said. Sentiment was also hit by a more than $1 a barrel jump in oil prices after top producers agreed to their biggest-ever output cut. India is one of the world’s top oil importers, making it susceptible to higher crude prices. Conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd was the biggest drag on the indexes, falling as much as 2.5%, while private-sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd dropped 3.5%. Data due later in the day is expected to show India’s retail inflation dropped to a four-month low in March on softer food and fuel prices and as demand likely plummeted due to the lockdown, according to a Reuters poll. Oil prices jump Oil prices jumped more than $1 a barrel on Monday after major producers finally agreed their biggest-ever output cut, but gains were capped amid concern that it won’t be enough to head off oversupply with the coronavirus pandemic hammering demand. After four days of wrangling, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia and other producers, a group known as OPEC+, agreed on Sunday to cut output by 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) to support oil prices, sources said, representing around 10 percent of global supply. Total global oil supply cuts could come to 20 million barrels per day, around 20 percent of global supply, Kuwait’s oil minister said. Brent crude futures rose $1.23, or 3.9 percent, to $32.71 a barrel by 0058 GMT after opening at a session high of $33.99. USWest Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up $1.39, or 6.1 percent, to $24.15 a barrel, after hitting a high of $24.74.