Stock Market Today: Sensex, Nifty snap four-day winning streak on weak global cues; mid, smallcaps outperform
Stock market today: Sensex closed with a loss of 347 points, or 0.55 per cent, at 62,622.24 while the Nifty ended the day at 18,534.40, down 99 points, or 0.53 per cent.
PremiumFrontline indices the Sensex and the Nifty snapped their four-day winning streak on Wednesday (May 31) on weak global cues after weak Chinese data made investors worried about global growth. A crucial vote in the US on the debt ceiling was also in the focus of investors as they hope the debt-ceiling deal is implemented by June 5.
Chinese manufacturing and services data for May dented the hopes of the revival of the world's second-largest economy after the end of strict Covid-led restrictions late last year.
"China's manufacturing activity fell more than expected in May, while services growth -- which has been one of the few bright spots in its patchy recovery -- slackened to its slowest pace in four months," reported Reuters.
At a time when the US and Europe are struggling to avoid a recession, emerging markets such as China and India offered hope to investors. With Chinese macroeconomic numbers coming on the softer side, investors fear that the worst is not over for the global economy.
Sensex opened 129 points lower at 62,839.97 against the previous close of 62,969.13 and plunged about 568 points to hit the intraday low of 62,401.02. The index finally closed with a loss of 347 points, or 0.55 per cent, at 62,622.24 while the Nifty ended the day at 18,534.40, down 99 points, or 0.53 per cent.
Mid and smallcaps, however, stood valiantly. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices ended 0.54 per cent and 0.68 per cent higher, respectively, outperforming the benchmark index.
Even though the Sensex ended lower, four index components - Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank, ITC and Kotak Mahindra Bank - hit their fresh 52-week highs in intraday trade.
As many as 172 stocks, including Trent, Aurobindo Pharma, Bajaj Holdings & Investment, Godrej Consumer Products, Indian Hotels Company and Indian Oil Corporation, hit their fresh 52-week highs in intraday trade on BSE.
Meanwhile, crude oil prices declined on concerns over weak macro data from China which is the top oil importer. Besides, a stronger dollar also capped crude oil prices. Brent Crude traded two per cent lower near the $72 per barrel mark. The rupee ended flat at 82.73 per dollar.
Top Gainers and Losers in Nifty Index
Shares of Tech Mahindra (up 2.33 per cent), Bharti Airtel (up 1.90 per cent) and Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 1.87 per cent) ended as the top gainers in the Nifty index.
On the flip side, shares of ONGC (down 3.24 per cent), NTPC (down 2.35 per cent) and Axis Bank (down 2.13 per cent) ended as the top losers in the index.
As many as 29 stocks ended with losses in the index while 20 clocked gains. One stock - Eicher Motors - ended flat.
Top gainers, losers today: Bharti Airtel, RIL, SBI, ONGC, HDFC twins; check full list here
Sectoral Indices End Mixed
Among the sectoral indices, Nifty Oil & Gas (down 1.26 per cent), Financial Services (down 0.82 per cent) and Metal (down 0.78 per cent) fell up to a per cent.
Nifty Bank (down 0.69 per cent) and Private Bank (down 0.50 per cent) also lost significantly.
Among the gainers, Nifty Realty (up 0.76 per cent), Healthcare (up 0.75 per cent), Consumer Durables (up 0.75 per cent) and Pharma (up 0.58 per cent) rose up to a per cent.
Experts' Views on Markets
"As indicated by multiple economic data points, the Indian economy is presently experiencing a robust recovery, leading to an upward trend in domestic equity markets. However, the rally is being hindered at times due to negative signals from global peers, as observed today. Concerns about a recession and potential interest rate hikes in Western markets are impacting the domestic market but it is nevertheless maintaining the outperformance," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
"Global headwinds, especially from the US markets, are causing intermediate volatility however the positional up trend is still intact. Considering the scenario, it is prudent to focus on position management while maintaining a positive bias," said Ajit Mishra, SVP - Technical Research at Religare Broking.
Technical Views on Markets
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail) at Kotak Securities pointed out that on daily charts, Nifty formed a reversal formation which is largely negative. However, after an intraday sell off the index took support near 18,480 and bounced back sharply.
"As long as the market is holding 18,480, the positive sentiment is likely to continue and above the same, the market could move up to 18,600-18,650. On the flip side, a fresh sell-off is likely only after the dismissal of 18,480. Below which, the index could slip to 18,400-18,375," said Chouhan.
As per Rupak De, Senior Technical at LKP Securities, the trend is expected to remain sideways to positive unless the index falls below the 18,500 level. On the higher end, there is resistance at 18,650. However, if the index decisively falls below 18,500, it may trigger additional selling pressure.
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Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
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