Sensex-Nifty closed flat, RBIs tighter lending norms impacted PSU bank stocks

Maharashtra (Mumbai) [India], May 6 (ANI): Stock markets started the Monday’s trading session with surge but both the indices faced selling pressure and closed with different trends.

The Nifty index closed with a marginal dip of 33 points at 22,442.65 while the Sensex gained marginally and closed after gaining 17 points at 73,895.
“Today’s price action was largely caused by this domestic cue. By the end of the day we saw most of the downside to have been absorbed and we expect better price action in the rest of the week”, said Ajay Bagga, Banking and Market expert.
He further added that “Upbeat global cues, strength in Asian markets, strong opening for European markets and mildly positive US stock futures failed to enthuse the Indian markets, which saw renewed selling on Monday. The prime cause was the more stringent RBI provisioning norms for project finance, which could curtail credit growth in this segment and impact capital adequacy for lenders catering to it”

Both indices Nifty and Sensex traded in a range-bound manner influenced by PSU banks’ underperformance due to the RBI’s tighter norms on lending to projects under development. The broader indices also witnessed major selling pressure due to valuation concerns and profit booking.
“Globally, weaker US payroll data has increased expectations of potential FED rate cuts. Investors are closely monitoring this week’s FED speaker for insights on future monetary policy” said Vinod Nair Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

In the Nifty 50 index, 29 shares declined by the time of closing and 21 shares closed in advance. Britannia topped the list of top gainers after gaining around 6 per cent to close at Rs 5026, the shares of Kotak bank also rallied and gained more than 5 per cent to Rs 1624 after the company announced the quarterly results.
Titan share declined by more than 7 per cent amid selling pressure from the investors and also made into the top loser list of Nifty 50.
According to the experts the markets faced pressure after the US jobs data for April come lower-than-expected indicating weakening labour market and slowing economy.
US unemployment has risen to 3.9% in April. So the possibility of a rate cut by the Fed has again brightened.