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Indian Share Markets Open Flat; Capital Goods and Telecom Stocks Fall
Tue, 14 May 09:30 am

Asian share markets are lower today as Chinese and Hong Kong shares fall. The Shanghai Composite is off 0.3% while the Hang Seng is down 1.5%. The Nikkei 225 is trading down by 0.7%. Wall Street's main indices tumbled on Monday after Beijing announced plans to retaliate with higher tariffs on US goods, raising fears that another round of tit-for-tat measures could push the US economy toward recession.

Back home, India share markets opened on a flat note. The BSE Sensex is trading down by 61 points while the NSE Nifty is trading up by 5 points. Both, the BSE Mid Cap index and BSE Small Cap index opened down by 0.5%.

All sectoral indices have opened the day on a negative note with Telecom and capital goods stocks witnessing maximum selling pressure.

If the India Volatility Index (VIX) score is anything to go by, we are in for a turbulent ride ahead.

The India VIX Index measures the volatility expected over the next 30 days. It touched an all-time high recently.

Uncertainty over the general elections, trade war threats between US and China and rising crude oil prices have all contributed to widespread fear among investors.

While the 2018 correction was mainly due to corporate governance issues back home, the threat of macro issues looms large in 2019.

For you, dear reader, it is important to ignore the short-term noise of the mainstream media.

While the volatility index is high, it is no indicator of the market direction. The index was high during 2014 as well, prior to the elections. Post that we had a multi-year bull run.

Co-head of research at Equitymaster, Tanushree Banerjee believes, safe stocks with strong fundamentals will do well regardless the short-term volatility.

In fact, the volatility might just give you an opportunity to load up on these quality businesses.

Moving on, the rupee is currently trading at 70.57 against the US$.

The rupee on May 13 fell sharply by 59 paise to close at nearly two-and-a-half-month-low of 70.51 against the US currency due to persistent foreign fund outflows and renewed worries over rising crude oil prices.

An unabated sell-off in domestic equity markets also weighed on the domestic currency, the reports noted.

The rupee opened sharply lower at 70.16 and fell further to touch over two-month low of 70.53 at the interbank foreign exchange market as oil prices rose over 1% in global markets.

The local unit finally settled at 70.51, down by 59 paise over its previous close. The rupee had on May 10 closed at 69.92 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.6% to US$71.73 per barrel due to simmering tensions in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia said Monday that its two oil tankers were among the commercial vessels that were damaged in sabotage attacks in the Gulf. The UAE on Sunday said that four commercial vessels were attacked near bunkering hub Fujairah.

Domestic investors kept weighing weak cues from global markets amid uncertainties around US-China trade tariff deal. Also, sustained foreign fund outflows kept investors edgy.

Moving on to another news. India's retail inflation stood at 2.92% in April, higher than 2.86% in March.

Core CPI for April contracted to 4.6% from 5% in March.

The latest price data released by the Central Statistics Office showed that consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation, which measures changes in shop-end prices, remained comfortably within the Reserve Bank of India's target level of 4%.

Food prices, which is a gauge to measure changes in kitchen budgets, grew 1.1% in April compared to 0.3% in March.

Inflation rate in cereals and products stood at 1.17% in April as against 1.25% in March. Vegetables inflation stood at 2.87% in April versus -1.49% in March.

Pulses inflation in April contracted 0.89% as against a contraction of 2.25% in March. Fuel and light inflation stood at 2.56% in April, up from 2.42% in March.

Housing inflation in April was at 4.76%, down from 4.93% in March, while clothing & footwear inflation was at 2.01% in April, down from 2.59% in March.

To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

For information on how to pick stocks that have the potential to deliver big returns, download our special report now!

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