Markets continue to look for direction, Sensex skids on oil

Markets continued to look for direction for the second day on Wednesday with the benchmark S&P Sensex closing about 14 points lower in rangebound trade as weak oil prices hurt stocks amid sustained capital outflows.

Among BSE sectoral indices, metal dropped the most by 1.20%, followed by oil&gas 0.86%, PSU 0.68%, auto 0.66%, IT 0.50%, consumer durables 0.41%, healthcare 0.13% and bankex 0.11%. The Sensex, after shuttling between 31,193.61 and 31,336.44, finally ended lower by 13.89 points, or 0.04%, at 31,283.64. The gauge had lost 14.04 points in the previous session.

The NSE Nifty too took some blows as it dropped by 19.90 points, or 0.21%, to close at 9,633.60. It moved between 9,608.60 and 9,650.45. "Lack of fresh triggers refrained market to continue its positive momentum while today's RBI minutes will be under scrutiny to check any deviation from current neutral stance due to softening inflation. Global markets remain volatile led by slid in oil prices due to signs of supply glut," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd said.

Oil&gas index was down 0.86% with stocks like OIL (2.51%), ONGC (2.10%), GAIL (1.97%), BPCL (1.48%), IOC (0.95%) and HPCL (0.81%) all taking a beating. Internationally, oil prices fell below US $43 a barrel for the first time since November last year on rising output from Nigeria and Libya, two OPEC members exempt from cutting supply.

Airlines stocks, however, were upbeat on expectations of lower jet fuel prices with Spicejet and Jet Airways rising by 4.03% and 2.99%, while InterGlobe Aviation climbed 1.51%. Investors engaged in cutting down their bets apprehending early glitches in GST rollout amid continued capital outflows by foreign funds and a weak trend in Asian markets.

Tata Motors, with a loss of 2.11%, was the worst hit from the Sensex pack followed by ONGC at 2.10%. Others that also came under selling pressure included Adani Ports, Lupin, TCS, Coal India, Hero MotoCorp, PowerGerid, Cipla, Tata Steel, Axis Bank, Tata Motor (DVR), M&M, ICICI Bank and HDFC Ltd, falling by up to 1.63%. However, Kotak Bank rose 0.85% followed by Sun Pharma (0.80%), Maruti Suzuki 0.76%, Wipro 0.73%, HDFC Bank 0.70%, NTPC 0.69%, Asian Paint 0.54% and Reliance Ind 0.41%.

FMCG gained the most by rising 0.73%, followed by realty 0.51% and power 0.19%. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 312.84, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 477.13 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

Elsewhere, most Asian indices like Japan's Nikkei fell 0.45%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.57%, South Korea down 0.49% and Singapore shed 0.81%. while China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.52% after US-based index comnpiler MSCI agreed to include mainland-listed shares in its benchmark of emerging markets. European indices like France, Germany and the UK fell in their early sessions.