Indian equity benchmarks ended the last trading of April deep in the red, dropping nearly 1 per cent for the day and closing out the month over 2 per cent lower.
Here Is Your 10-Point Guide To Stock Markets' Performance In April:
Global stocks have gone through wild gyrations as traders grapple with the fallout from the escalating Russia-Ukraine crisis - now in its third month, demand impact of stringent lockdowns in China and stagflation risks worldwide.
The 30-share BSE Sensex index pared gains of over 300 points from earlier in the session and closed the last trading of April in the red, down 460 points, or 0.8 per cent, at 57,060. For the month, the index closed over 2.6 per cent lower. The broader NSE Nifty fell 0.8 per cent to about 17,102 on Friday.
The losses were led by fag-end selling in Axis Bank, Reliance Industries and Infosys. Shares of Axis Bank tumbled 6.57 per cent a day after the company reported a 49.77 per cent jump in its consolidated net profit for the March quarter. In contrast, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel and Dr Reddy Labs were gainers.
In the otherwise gloomy month, the bright spot was Reliance Industries Ltd's (RIL) share value soaring to a record high of Rs 2,856.15 per share on Friday. On Wednesday, RIL became the first Indian company to hit the Rs 19 lakh crore market valuation following a share price rally to a previous record high of Rs 2,827.10 on the BSE.
Volatility was reflected in this week's trade moves. Indeed, on Thursday, the BSE rose 700 points, and the Nifty gained 1.2 per cent after falling nearly 1 per cent in the previous session. On Tuesday, the Sensex had jumped nearly 800 points, while the Nifty had risen almost 1.5 per cent, after both the indexes had declined over 1 per cent on Monday.
April bears sombre omens for what's to come, notably with Asian shares falling to their worst month since the COVID-19 March 2020 crash, despite the fireworks on Wall Street on Thursday night - led by robust US company earnings reports offsetting gloomy economic data there.
But it was even worse for the Nasdaq, which posted its most significant losses in a month since the financial crisis of 2008.
Overall, the S&P 500 has had a terrible ride so far in 2022, losing roughly 10 per cent of its value, wiping off four trillion dollars in market capitalisation.
The dollar enjoyed its best month in a decade and hit its highest level in 20 years, which is puzzling considering data which showed the US economy unexpectedly contracted in the first quarter.
Clearly, the pandemic is not in the rearview mirror yet, with China grappling with surging cases and imposing stringent lockdowns. That has weighed on global oil markets, but the escalation in the energy crisis in Europe after Russia turned off its gas pipes to Eastern Europe has limited the fall in crude prices.
