Share Market: Indices Trade Marginally Lower, Sensex Tests 82,200, Nifty Hovers At 25K

The stock markets began trading on a muted note this week. Both benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, traded nearly flat on Monday as markets remained weighed down by the recent downgrade in US’ credit rating issued by Moody’s.

Around 9:18 AM, the BSE Sensex slipped 40 points to hover under 82,300, while the NSE Nifty50 inched up 12 points to trade above 25K.

However, as markets progressed, both indices slipped in the negative territory. The Sensex fell close to 90 points and traded under 82,250, while the Nifty remained marginally lower by 14 points and stood just above 25K, as of 9:48 AM.

On the 30-share Sensex, Tata Motors, NTPC, PowerGrid, Bajaj Finance, and Hindustan Unilever stood among the gainers. Meanwhile, the laggards in the morning so far included Infosys, Eternal, TCS, HCL Tech, and IndusInd Bank.

Broader Markets

In the broader markets, the Nifty Microcap 250 led the gains and climbed 0.59 per cent in the session. Sectorally, the Realty and Auto indices dominated in green and jumped 1.06 per cent and 0.90 per cent respectively. On the other hand, the IT index took a hit of 0.94 per cent.

In the last session on May 16, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net buyers of Indian equities and infused Rs 8,831.05 crore in the segment, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased equities worth Rs 5,187.09 crore.

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V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, explained, "An apparently perplexing trend from the last trading day is that the market declined despite Rs 14,018 crore of institutional buying ( FIIs plus DIIs). This indicates that FIIs are increasing their short positions in the derivatives market. So expect more volatility ahead."

Rupee Vs Dollar

The Indian rupee gained 16 paise to touch 85.41 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, backed by a weak US dollar in the global market and robust foreign fund inflows. Forex traders pointed out that the domestic unit is likely to trade in a narrow range as oil prices inched lower amid oversupply concerns, and US-Iran nuclear deal discussions. 

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