Sensex loses 338 points to close at 49,565; Nifty slides 124 points to end at 14,906

Domestic equity markets ended near the day's low after volatile trade on Thursday, May 20, 2021. The S&P BSE Sensex index declined 337.78 points or 0.68 per cent to close at 49,564.86. The Nifty 50 index lost 124.10 points or 0.83 per cent and closed below 15,000-mark at 14,906.05. In the intra-day trade, the indices hit a low of 49,496.78 and 14,884.90, respectively.

Nifty Bank index also fell 350.65 points or 1.04 per cent and settled lower at 33,334.55.

Sector-wise, the metal stocks lost today with the Nifty Metal index falling 3.21 per cent with SAIL, Tata Steel sliding over 5 per cent and Jindal Steel and Hindalco sliding over 4 per cent. The metal stocks witnessed profit booking today booking after China said it will strengthen its management of commodity supply and demand to curb any "unreasonable" increases in prices.

In the broader markets, the S&P BSE MidCap index and SmallCap index ended 0.16 per cent and 0.22 per cent lower today, respectively.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1661 shares rose and 1425 shares fell. On the NSE, the Nifty 50 index 14 shares advanced and 36 shares declined. The top five gainers on the Nifty 50 index were Cipla (up 2.38 per cent), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 2.32 per cent), BPCL (up 2.09 per cent), IndusInd Bank (up 0.98 per cent) and Titan (up 0.94 per cent). The top five losers were Tata Steel (down 5.10 per cent), Hindalco (down 4.24 per cent), Coal India (down 3.42 per cent), Britannia (down 2.98 per cent) and ONGC (down 2.87 per cent).

COVID-19 update

Total Covid-19 confirmed cases worldwide were at 16,49,14,739 with 34,17,982 deaths. India reported 31,29,878 active cases of Covid-19 infection and 2,87,122 deaths while 2,23,55,440 patients have been discharged, data showed. The country recorded 2,76,110 new Covid-19 cases and 3,874 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry. The total tally of the viral infection now stands at 2,57,72,440.

Global Trade Update

The Global Trade Update by UNCTAD on Wednesday said in Q1 2021, the value of global trade in goods and services grew by about 4 per cent QoQ and about 10 per cent YoY.

Export Growth in Japan

Japan's exports grew the most since 2010 in April, supported by a favourable comparison with the sharp plunge seen during the pandemic last year. Data out on Thursday showed exports rose 38 per cent in April from a year earlier, compared with a 16.1 per cent rise in March.

Economic Activity in the US

The Fed's minutes said a strong pickup in economic activity would warrant discussions about tightening monetary policy in the coming months.