The key equity barometers reversed gains and slipped into the negative terrain in morning trade. The Nifty, however, managed to hold above the 15,550 mark. Metal shares corrected after a three-day wining streak.
At 10:22 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 93.56 points or 0.18% to 51,843.88. The Nifty 50 index lost 26.20 points or 0.17% to 15,556.60.
In broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.33% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.35%.
The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1265 shares rose and 1484 shares fell. A total of 114 shares were unchanged.
COVID-19 Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 170,593,575 with 3,547,205 global deaths.
Read more about Benchmarks end almost flat; Adani Group stocks rally on Business Standard. The domestic equity benchmarks ended almost flat after a volatile session on Tuesday. While selling was wide spread, most IT and pharma stocks managed to end in the green.
Growth in India’s domestic factory orders and production slowed to a 10-month low in May as most states restricted businesses to slow down the spread of Covid-19. Overall manufacturing activity slowed down and job loss accelerated in May, according to a private survey’s report. The IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) slipped to 50.8 in May against 55.5 in April, making it one of the steepest fall. PMI is a month-over-month indicator and shows changes over the previous month, and not over the previous year. Indian manufacturing sector is showing increasing signs of strain as the COVID-19 crisis intensifies. Key gauges of current sales, production and input buying weakened noticeably in May and pointed to the slowest rates of increase in ten months. In fact, all indices were down from April,” said Pollyanna De Lima, economics associate director at IHS Markit, in the report.
The key barometers hovered near the flat line in early afternoon trade. Metal shares tumbled while autos and FMCG shares bucked weak market trend.
At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 6.05 points or 0.01% at 51,943.49. The Nifty 50 index lost 15.25 points or 0.10% at 15,567.55. The Nifty pared losses after hitting the day s low of 15,528.30 in early afternoon trade.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.39% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.51%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,112 shares rose and 1,857 shares fell. A total of 124 shares were unchanged.
Derivatives:
The NSE s India VIX, a gauge of market s expectation of volatility over the near term, jumped 5.92% to 17.89. The Nifty 29 July 2021 futures were trading at 15,564.45, at a discount of 3.10 points as compared with the spot at 15,567.55.