Flat start of the Month for Markets, Sensex green while Nifty red

It was a mixed day for market as the 30 share BSE Sensex ended green while the 50 share Nifty 50 concluded red. At the end of day’s trade, BSE Sensex gained 16.06 points to end at 35,176.42 while the Nifty 50 dropped 21.30 points to end at 10,718.05.

“It has certainly been a volatile start to the month of May, as benchmark indices in India struggled to maintain gains, despite positive macro-economic updates. Markets traded positive in the first half of the day but were unsuccessful in holding on to gains as volatility came to the fore and pushed markets to finally close the day near the flat line,” said Abhijeet Dey- Senior Fund Manager-Equities at BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.

Kotak Bank, ITC, Zee Entertainment Limited, Axis Bankand Asian Paints were among major gainers while Vedanata, HCL, Hindalco, Tata Steel and Hindustan Unilever were among major losers.

“HCL Technologies dipped 4.9% after the IT companies posted a 9.9 percent fall in its fourth-quarter net profit earlier today, hurt by higher expenses. On the global front sentiment remained muted as investors await the US Federal Reserve’s policy decision later today said Hemang Jani, Head – Advisory at Sharekhan.  

The BSE Midcap dropped 1.17% to conclude at 16,813.60 and the BSE Small cap ended at 18,189.56 to conclude the day’s session 1.15% lower.

Among the global markets, Shanghai Composite, Hang Seng and Nikkei ended red while FTSE 100 and DAX was trading green at the time of writing this copy. The previous closing for S&P 500 of the US was on the positive note.

In the precious metal section, gold gained 0.15% to close at Rs 30,976 while the crude oil closed 0.36% high at 4,504.

 On the macro front, according to Dey, the factory growth in India accelerated in April on strong domestic demand and output. “The Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 51.6 in April from 51 in March. Additionally, the production of eight core industries, comprising 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), increased by 4.1% in March 2018 over March 2017”, he added.

At the end of day’s trade the 10 year benchmark yield softened to conclude at 7.7325