Markets continue to trade in red amid weak global cues

Indian bourses continued to trade deeply in red in the afternoon session amid heavy selling witnessed in front line blue chip stocks. Weak trend on Asian bourses tracking overnight losses on US markets dampened trading sentiment; moreover investors also remained concerned on report that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 676 crore on April 17, 2015. Sentiment got a hit on reports that India’s exports contracted by 21.06 percent to $23.95 billion, while imports fell by 13.44 percent to $ 35.74 billion in March that led to trade deficit to its highest level in four months at $11.79 billion, as exports continued to fall, underscoring risks for growth prospects in Asia’s third largest economy. However, losses remained capped with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that Indian economy is now clearly on a recovery path with a 7.4 per cent growth in the first three quarters and the new government is committed to maintain overall macroeconomic conditions on a sustained basis.

On global front, Asian stock markets were trading subdued on Monday, following the negative lead from Wall Street on Friday amid fresh worries about a Greek debt default. Further, stimulus measures announced by China's central bank during the weekend failed to boost sentiment. Back home, Indian rupee declined by 19 paise at 62.55 against the US dollar in early trade due to appreciation of the American currency overseas.

Back on street, stocks from Consumer Durables and Banking counters were supporting the markets’ uptrend, while those from FMCG, information technology (IT) and Realty counters were adding to the underlying cautious undertone. In scrip specific development, Shares of Claris Lifesicences have surged after the company announced settlement of litigation and license agreement for its generic DIPRIVAN in USA. On the flip side, shares of NMDC have declined after the company announced reduction in iron prices.

The market breadth on BSE was negative, out of 2485 stocks traded, 865 stocks advanced, while 1532 stocks declined on the BSE.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28210.21, down by 231.89 points or 0.82% after trading in a range of 28189.17 and 28539.46. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.21%, while Small cap index down by 1.16%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.91% and Bankex up by 0.19% while, FMCG down by 1.88%, IT down by 1.77%, TECK down by 1.67%, Realty down by 1.45% and Auto down by 1.40% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 2.04%, ICICI Bank up by 1.71%, Tata Steel up by 1.20%, GAIL India up by 0.80% and HDFC Bank up by 0.23%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.81%, Infosys down by 2.29%, Coal India down by 2.07%, Reliance Industries down by 2.06% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.78% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India’s exports contracted by 21.06 percent to $ 23.95 billion, while imports fell by 13.44 percent to $ 35.74 billion in March that led to trade deficit to its highest level in four months at $11.79 billion, as exports continued to fall, underscoring risks for growth prospects in Asia’s third largest economy. For the whole 2014-15, trade deficit widened to $ 137 billion.

Cumulative value of exports during April-March 2014-15 was $310.53 billion, as against $314.41 billion, down 1.23 percent, over the same period last year, while cumulative value of imports during April-March 2014-15 was $ 447.54 billion, as against $ 450.21 billion, down 0.59 percent, over the same period last year.

According to the Commerce Ministry data, the trade deficit for April-March, 2014-15 was estimated at $ 137.014 billion which was higher than the deficit of $ 135.79 billion during April-March, 2013-14.

Although, a plunge in global prices of crude oil by nearly half since last June, lessened India’s import bill but a drop in exports in recent months continued to weigh on the trade. Oil imports contracted 53 percent to $7.4 billion, while non-oil imports that signal economic activity in the domestic economy remained barely changed at $22.8 billion. On the other hand Petroleum exports fell 60 percent in March to $2.4 billion and jems and jewellery, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and engineering goods contracted by 8.36 percent, 2.03 percent, 5.36 percent and 2.55 percent, respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8536.35, down by 69.65 points or 0.81% after trading in a range of 8529.15 and 8619.95. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ICICI Bank up by 1.87%, Sun Pharma up by 1.81%, Bank of Baroda up by 1.75%, Ambuja Cement up by 1.48% and Tata Steel up by 1.30%. On the flip side, NMDC down by 3.22%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.94%, Infosys down by 2.43%, Idea Cellular down by 2.16% and Indusind Bank down by 2.14% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in the red; Hang Seng decreased 1.66%, Jakarta Composite declined 0.42%, Straits Times shed 0.64%, Taiwan Weighted slipped 0.19%, Nikkei 225 down by 0.13%, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dipped 0.12% and Shanghai Composite down by 0.15%. On the flip side, KOSPI Index was up by 0.15%.