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Sensex Ends 247 Points Lower; Auto and Banking Stocks Witness Selling
Wed, 29 May Closing

India share markets witnessed selling pressure during closing hours and ended their trading session in the red.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 247 points (down 0.6%) and the NSE Nifty closed down by 67 points (down 0.6%).

The BSE Mid Cap index ended the day down 0.8%, while the BSE Small Cap index ended the day down 0.6%.

Sectoral indices ended in the red with stocks in the metal sector, banking sector and auto sector witnessing most of the selling pressure.

The rupee was trading at 69.82 against the US$.

Asian stock markets finished on a mixed note. As of the most recent closing prices, the Hang Seng was down by 0.5% and the Shanghai Composite was up by 0.2%. The Nikkei 225 was down 1.2%.

European markets were trading on a negative note. The FTSE 100 was down by 1.3%. The DAX was trading down by 1.3%, while the CAC 40 was down by 1.7%.

In the news from the commodity space, crude oil was witnessing selling pressure today. Oil prices fell by around 1% today on the back of concerns that the Sino-US trade war could trigger a global economic downturn.

But despite these concerns, note that global oil demand is so far holding up well. As per the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), the oil demand is likely averaging over 100 million barrels per day (bpd) this year for the first time.

Note that within the oil industry, there are signs of a further rise in output from the United States, where crude production has already surged by more than 2 million barrels per day (bpd) since early 2018.

That has made the United States the world's biggest producer ahead of Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Also, crude oil prices have quietly creeped up this year.

Oil prices have jumped as much as 3.2% to their highest level since late 2018.

As you know, rising crude oil prices have a big impact on the Indian economy as it imports over 70% of its energy needs.

Rise in crude oil increases input costs for dependent firms. It also means rising inflation. Rising inflation means rising interest rates.

It also puts pressure on the government to cut excise duty, thereby impacting its revenues. We have already seen that happening.

Research Analyst, Richa Agarwal believes that this has the potential to bring down sentiments in the domestic markets. She further believes that, if oil prices continue their upward march in a tight global environment, a broader correction in the sentiment fueled domestic market cannot be ruled out.

Speaking of crude oil, Vijay Bhambwani, editor of Weekly Cash Alerts, called the US President Donald Trump's bluff on crude oil in his recent article. Here's an excerpt of what he wrote...

  • From 2018 US is the largest oil producing country in the world with 13.4% of the global oil output daily.

    The USA has jumped ahead of Saudi Arabia and Russia in oil output. My question to every oil trader out there is this - as long as the USA was an importer, it made sense to push for lower oil prices. There were tangible benefits in doing so.

    President Donald Trump runs the world's largest debtor nation. One that is gasping for export income and a strong dollar. A firm USD ensures easier servicing and repayment of debt and vice versa. So now that Trump wants to export oil, and earn petro dollars does it benefit him if oil prices were to go up or down? So why does he tweet for lower oil prices?

To know more, you can read Vijay's entire article here: Crude Oil - What 'Trump Nation' Really Wants

From the finance sector, DHFL share price was in focus today after reports stated that textile group Welspun may take partial ownership in the slum rehabilitation projects that DHFL has financed.

As per the news, the Welspun group is in talks with the local builders that are currently developing the projects to take joint ownership.

The report added that Welspun has already informed the cash-strapped DHFL about its intention and it could either be Welspun taking the projects on its books or a family office of promoter BK Goenka picking up the stake.

Meanwhile, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) yesterday issued a lookout notice against DHFL promoters in an investigation pertaining to shell companies.

The instruction has come on request of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), which had earlier found shell companies associated with DHFL.

Last week, the NBFC witnessed huge selling pressure after the housing finance company said it has decided to temporarily stop taking fresh deposits and hold premature withdrawals from existing deposit schemes as it tries to manage its tight liquidity position.

The above move came after the recent downgrade of the credit rating of DHFL's fixed deposit (FD) programme.

Note that DHFL's fixed deposit programme was downgraded by Brickwork Ratings India Ltd on Friday to BBB+ from AA- and had been put on credit watch with negative implications due to the limited build-up of liquidity. In its rating release, Brickwork Ratings pegged the size of DHFL's fixed deposit programme at Rs 120 billion.

How this all pans out and what further developments take place for DHFL remain to be seen. Meanwhile, we will keep you updated on all the news from this space.

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

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