Indian indices at the weekend cleaned all the gains before closing lower, despite positive global cues. The week witnessed heavy turbulence due to multiple headwinds including fears of a global economic slowdown and lockdown in China.
The Sensex slipped 460.19 points, or 0.8%, to close at 57,060.87, while Nifty50 lost 142.50 points to end at 17,102.55. Sectorally, all the sectors were in the red with energy, power, oil & gas stocks suffering the most.
On the 30-stock index, the most gains were made by Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, and Sun Pharma, among others, while Axis Bank, Power Grid, SBI, and Wipro were among the biggest losers.
On Nifty50, HDFC Life, Tata Consumer, and Kotak Bank made the most gains, while Axis Bank, Coal India, Adani Ports, and Wipro were among the biggest laggards.
Life Insurance Corp. (LIC) will list on stock exchanges on 17 May, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary said Friday, according to media reports.
Tata Group’s steel manufacturing arm, Tata Steel is set to consider a stock split proposal next week on Tuesday, May 3, 2022. Additionally, the company’s board of directors will also look into dividend recommendations for the financial year FY22. The meeting will be held to consider the firm’s financial results for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2022.
Gold rose on Friday as worrying U.S. economic data rekindled some interest in the safe-haven metal, but bullion was likely to log its first monthly drop since January on bets for aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
Spot gold was up 0.6% at $1,905.67 per ounce, as of 0546 GMT, but had lost about 1.6% so far this month. U.S. gold futures were up 0.9% at $1,908.10.
The disappointing U.S. GDP number could take some pressure off the Fed to tighten quite as aggressively as it has hinted, a rhetoric that has pressured gold in recent weeks, said Ilya Spivak, a currency strategist at DailyFX.
Automakers are expected to have a good start to FY23 which is evident from analysts’ expectations of growth in April 2022 volumes. True, the low base of last year aids in volume growth. But the segments are poised for recovery.
Stocks in Europe rose Friday as China’s pledge to ramp up stimulus buoyed optimism and strong earnings continued to roll in.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained almost 1%, helped by the region’s exporters for whom Chinese raw-material demand is key. Miners and technology firms led gains. U.S. equity futures pared losses sparked by post-earnings slumps in Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc. in extended U.S. trading on concerns about the outlooks for both tech giants.
The busy earnings season has also helped restore confidence after a turbulent start to the year, tempering April’s losses for European equities. The main regional benchmark is set for a 1.2% drop in the month. Novo Nordisk A/S climbed after raising its 2022 profit forecast.
