Sensex Ends 179 Points Lower; Oil & Gas and Telecom Stocks Witness Selling

Wed, 3 Apr Closing

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India share markets witnessed selling pressure during closing hours and ended their trading session on a negative note.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 179 points (down 0.5%) and the NSE Nifty closed down by 69 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 0.9%.

Sectoral indices ended in the red with stocks in the telecom sector and oil & gas sector witnessing most of the selling pressure.

The rupee was trading at 68.51 against the US$.

Asian stock markets finished on a positive note. As of the most recent closing prices, the Hang Seng was up by 1.2% and the Shanghai Composite was also up by 1.2%. The Nikkei 225 was up 1%.

European markets were trading on a mixed note. The FTSE 100 was down by 0.04%. The DAX was trading up by 1.2%, while the CAC 40 was up by 0.6%.

Speaking of the general mood in Indian stock markets these days, a lot of market participants are playing the prediction game ahead of the elections.

A common theme is to sit on cash to escape the volatility ahead of the upcoming elections. In case there is an unexpected event, you can then get in post the correction.

But does timing the market work?

Not really, if you see the market performance in the year of the past three national elections (2004,2009 and 2014).

Downside of Timing The Stock Market

Looking at the returns in the above chart, staying out of the market to escape volatility would have been a costly affair every time.

The market gave above average returns in all three of those years.

This does not mean one can expect the same in the future.

But there's one thing for sure. Predicting short-term directions of the market is a futile and many a times a costly affair.

That's why we believe in picking safe stocks when they are actually 'safe' i.e. during such times of high pessimism and uncertainty.

In the news from the commodity space, crude oil witnessed buying interest today.

Gains were seen despite an industry report showing that US inventories rose unexpectedly last week, with supply cuts and sanctions supporting the market.

Note that the US-China trade deal, the OPEC cuts, and the US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela are continuing to dominate crude oil headlines.

Crude oil prices were near 2019 highs last month, supported by supply cuts led by producer club OPEC. Reportedly, US sanctions against oil producers Iran and Venezuela are boosting prices.

Last month, the OPEC scrapped its planned meeting in April, effectively extending supply cuts that have been in place since January until at least June, when the next meeting is scheduled.

The OPEC and non-affiliated allies like Russia - known as the OPEC+ alliance - have been withholding around 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in crude supply from the start of the year to tighten markets and prop up prices.

US crude oil output has soared by more than 2 million barrels per day (bpd) since early 2018, to around 12 million bpd, making America the world's biggest producer ahead of Russia and Saudi Arabia.

On the demand-side, there is concern that an economic slowdown as well as improving energy efficiency and the emergence of alternative transport fuels will erode oil consumption.

Moving on to the news from the IPO space, Metropolis Healthcare Ltd IPO hit the markets today.

The diagnostics company has raised Rs 5.3 billion yesterday by allotting 60.24 lakh shares to 26 anchor investors at 880 per share. The 12-billion offer will run from April 3 to 5 and consists of about 15.3 million shares.

Metropolis Healthcare Limited is a chain of diagnostic companies. It has 106 clinical laboratories, 1130 collection centers in seven countries.

The company also provides analytical and support services for the clinical research projects to some clinical research organizations.

Metropolis offers 3480 clinical laboratory tests and 524 profiles which combines a variety of tests for the specific disease.

Outside India, it has presence in Ghana, Zambia, Kenya, Sri Lanka, and Mauritius for laboratory operations and in UAE, Nepal, Nigeria and Oman for 3rd party services.

Speaking of IPOs, we at Equitymaster believe a merit-based selection, primarily including valuation, business, and management quality, is the logical way to go about investing in IPOs.

If it means going against the herd, so be it. And going by recent past, this strategy has been proven to be successful more often.

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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