A very weak month for domestic equities – most indices and sectors delivered negative returns for the month. The first two weeks were very weak and there has been some recovery in the second half of the month.
Broad Market Indices: Nifty (-2.6%) outperformed midcap (-5.2%) and smallcap (-8.6%). Nifty Next 50 (-8.3%) underperformed too.
Like last month, performance deviation between sectors has been very large.
Like last month, Autos (4.9%) and FMCG (0.6%) were amongst the better performers this month.
Capital Good (-0.8%) and Financials (-1.2%) outperformed broad indices but delivered negative returns.
Both IT (-5.8%) and Pharma (-7.7%) continued to underperform. IPOs (-8.4%) and PSUs (-4.1%) underperformed too.
Within Commodities: All subsectors underperformed significantly. Power (-11.3%) which was outperforming since few months, gave up a lot of the gains this month.
GLOBAL MARKETS
SUMMARY:
Equity:
After a negative April, global equities were flat this month. Reports suggest that like the last few months, value stocks continue to outperform growth stocks globally.
Emerging markets marginally outperformed developed markets.
US: Broad markets were neutral. Reports suggest that Energy, Utilities & Financials outperformed while IT and consumer facing sectors continued to underperform. US GDP contracted in Q1 and PMI fell from 56 to 53.8 in May as FED has begun to focus on controlling inflation over growth.
Eurozone: Marginally positive this month. Sectoral trends very similar to US.
Australia & New Zealand: Both agricultural commodity exporters underperformed this month after 3 months of continuous outperformance in the previous months.
China, Hong Kong & Taiwan: After months of underperformance, all 3 markets closed positively as Chinese Authorities began easing Covid related restrictions and unveiled plans to boost growth.
India: Equities underperformed global peers. FII outflows increased again after one month of moderation in April.
Currencies:
After two months of weakness, most currencies appreciated versus USD this month.
Commodity countries and many emerging market currencies have outperformed – shows improvement in the global risk sentiment.
Indian Rupee is amongst the worst performers in May, higher oil prices and continued FII outflows are key factors causing the impact.
