Indian markets ended the day with moderate losses. Markets hovered between small gains and declines throughout the day, before ending the day on a dull note. The BSE-Sensex lost about 53 points while NSE-Nifty lost about 13 points. BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices opposed the trend and finished the day higher by 1% each. Among sectoral indices, IT and Consumer Durables stocks lost the maximum while PSU and Realty stocks balanced the losses with some gains.
Barring Japan's Nikkei (down 1%), Asian stocks were broadly flat following weak data from China. European markets were seen falling at the open with concerns over volatility and tightening of financial conditions from the rise in bond prices.
The Indian Rupee advanced further by 15 paise to Rs 63.85 against the US dollar at the time of writing.
According to a leading daily, India's wholesale price inflation contracted further in April by 2.65% after shrinking 2.33% in the previous month. The country's factory output growth touched a five-month low in March at 2.1% and retail inflation eased to a four-month low in April at 4.87%. Among the major items tracked by the gauge, only food prices rose by 5.73% in April compared with 6.31% a month ago. Reportedly, the deflationary trend has encouraged the case for a rate cut by the Reserve Bank.
Steel stocks ended the day on an optimistic note with JSW Steel and Jindal Steel being the pick of the gainers. According to a leading financial daily, state-run Steel Authority of India Limited has completed the current phase of the modernization and expansion of the Bokaro Steel Plant with an investment of Rs 63.25 bn. The planned expansion by the SAIL has raised the plant's crude steel production capacity to 4.61 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) from 4.36 MTPA. SAIL, India's largest steelmaker, has charted investment of Rs 1,500 bn till 2025 to ramp up its steel production from 24 million tonnes to 50 million tonnes. The script of SAIL ended the day on a flattish note.
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