Barometers traded with losses; Sensex held 56,600 level

The benchmark indices extended heavy losses during afternoon trade, as IT and FMCG shares dragged. The Nifty traded below its psychological 17,000 mark.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, S&P BSE Sensex slumped 589.63 points or 1.03% at 56,607.52. The Nifty 50 index shed 211.25 points or 1.23% at 16,960.70.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 1.69%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 1.44%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On the BSE, 993 shares rose while 2,457 shares fell. A total of 138 shares were unchanged.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for June 2022 settlement fell $3.97 or 3.72% to $102.68 a barrel. The contract fell $1.55 to settle at $106.65 a barrel during the previous trading session. The fall in crude oil prices was on the backdrop of demand worries due to China`s Covid resurgence. In order to curb the resurgence, Chinese government has confined people to their homes, imposed strict lockdowns and facilitated multiple rounds of mass testing.

COVID-19 Update:

India reported 2,541 fresh COVID-19 cases on Monday, marginally lower than 2,593 infections recorded the previous day, the Union Health Ministry`s data showed. The total number of active cases of the country now stands at 16,522. As many as 30 deaths were reported Monday, taking the death toll to 5,22,223.

The active cases comprise 0.04% of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded as 98.75%. An increase of 649 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The daily positivity rate was recorded as 0.84% and the weekly positivity rate as 0.54%. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,25,21,341, while the case fatality rate was 1.21%.

Gainers & Losers:

ICICI Bank (up 1.43%), Axis Bank (up 0.88%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 0.69%), HDFC Bank (up 0.67%) and Bajaj Auto (up 0.61%) were the top Nifty gainers.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) (down 6.02%), Coal India (down 4.97%), Tata Steel (down 3.60%), SBI Life Insurance Company (down 3.19%) and Hindalco Industries (down 3.18%) were the top Nifty losers.

Economy:

Indonesia announced its plans to ban export of palm oil from 28 April 2022. The country is the world`s top palm oil producer while India is the world`s largest importer of edible oils, and specifically the highest importer of palm oil and soyabean oil. The media reported that the ban on palm oil could trigger further inflation worries for India.

Crypto Market:

Among the popular crypto currencies, Tether (USDT) (up 0.24%) edged higher.

However, Doge Coin (Doge) (down 7.26%), Binance Coin (BNB) (down 4.80%), Ethereum (ETH) (down 4.34%) and Bitcoin (BTC) (down 2.96%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

ICICI Bank rose 1.43%. The private lender`s standalone net profit rose 59.42% to Rs 7,018.71 crore on 14.44% increase in total income to Rs 27,412.32 crore in Q4 March 2022 over Q4 March 2020. Net interest income (NII) increased by 21% year-on-year to Rs 12,605 crore in Q4 FY22. Net interest margin was 4% in Q4 FY22 compared to 3.84% in Q4 FY21 and 3.96% in Q3 FY22.

The bank`s provisions and contingencies (excluding tax provisions) fell 62.93% to Rs 1,068.95 crore in Q4 FY22 over Q4 FY21. The ratio of gross NPAs to gross advances stood at 3.60% as on 31 March 2021 as against 4.13% as on 31 December 2021 and 4.96% as on 31 March 2020. The ratio of net NPAs to net advances stood at 0.76% as on 31 March 2021 as against 0.85% as on 31 December 2021 and 1.14% as on 31 March 2020.

Total deposits increased by 14% year-on-year and 5% sequentially to Rs 1,064,572 crore at 31 March 2022. Total advances increased by 17% year-on-year and 6% sequentially to Rs 859,020 at 31 March 2022.

Tata Metaliks dropped 6.23%.The company`s adjusted net profit declined 59.51% to Rs 30.36 crore. Net sales rose 22.25% to Rs 807.92 crore in Q4 March 2022 over Q4 March 2021.

Global Markets:

European stocks skid across the board on Monday as the sell-off in global markets continues into the new trading week. Investors in Europe digested the result of the French presidential election on Monday, and monitoring the latest developments in Ukraine.

France`s Emmanuel Macron has comfortably beaten his rival Marine Le Pen in Sunday`s election, securing a second term as president on his pro-business and pro-EU agenda. Official results showed centrist Macron of the La Republique En Marche party gaining 58.5% in the second and final round of voting. Le Pen of the nationalist and far-right National Rally party had almost 42% of the vote.

Separately, European investors continued to monitor developments in Ukraine as Russia`s invasion of the country entered its third month on Sunday. The conflict that has killed thousands and led to the worst refugee crisis Europe has seen since World War II. The war will end only if Russian troops fully withdraw from the country, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal further stated.

Asian stocks were trading lower on Monday following a sell-off on Wall Street on Friday. Wall Street tumbled on Friday as surprise earnings news and increased certainty around aggressive near-term interest rate rises took its toll on investors.

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