Markers trade slightly in red in early deals; Sensex slips below 27000 mark

Indian equity benchmarks are trading slightly in red in early deals on Friday, as investors opted to book some profit after previous session’s rally. The sentiments were under pressure with report of India's merchandise exports contracting for the 10th month in a row, declining by 24.33 percent in September to $21.84 billion. Further, the rupee, snapping its two-day winning streak, against the US dollar in early trade, too kept weighing down the markets. However, losses remained capped with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's statement that economic growth could top 7.5 percent in the current fiscal and macroeconomic indicators are positive with declining inflation and twin deficits under control.

In the scrip specific development, MindTree was trading higher after the company reported 14.5% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) growth in its consolidated net profit at Rs 158 crore for the quarter ended September 2015 (Q2).

On the global front, the US markets ended higher, after two days of losses, led by sharp gains in biotechnology shares and a rebound in financials following upbeat results from Citigroup.  The Asian markets were trading mostly in green tracking the positive lead overnight from Wall Street amid optimism that the U.S. Federal Reserve will delay raising interest rates.

Closer home traders were seen piling up position in Power, Oil & Gas, Auto, IT and TECK, while selling was witnessed in Realty, Metal, Bankex, Consumer Durables and FMCG. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 920: 692 while 85 scrips remained unchanged. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26944.25, down by 65.89 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 26921.25 and 27064.21. There were 8 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.04%, while Small cap index up by 0.12%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 0.49%, Oil & Gas up by 0.36%, Auto up by 0.30%, IT up by 0.05% and TECK up by 0.01%, while Realty down by 1.08%, Metal down by 0.55%, Bankex down by 0.51%, Consumer Durables down by 0.40% and FMCG down by 0.39% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 1.64%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.10%, Tata Motors up by 1.05%, Reliance Industries up by 0.80% and TCS up by 0.54%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.26%, Lupin down by 1.79%, Coal India down by 1.20%, ICICI Bank down by 1.07% and ONGC down by 1.02% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, contracting for the tenth month in a row, India's exports plunged over 24 percent in September mainly due to global slowdown and declining commodity prices worldwide. The last time Indian exports registered a positive growth was in November 2014, when shipments had expanded at a rate of 7.27 percent. However, Imports too declined by over 25 percent in September this year, thus narrowing the trade gap to $10478.70 million from $ 14474.04 million recorded in the same month of 2014. The trade deficit during April-September 2015-16 too has narrowed to $ 67994.79 million as against $ 72692.08 million in the same period last fiscal.

As per the data released by the Commerce Ministry, Exports during September, 2015 were valued at $ 21844.98 million in Dollar terms, 24.33 per cent lower than the level of $28867.71 million during September, 2014. In Rupee terms the exports stood at Rs. 144652.67 crore for the month against Rs.175703.03 crore in the same month last year, showing a decline of 17.67 per cent. Cumulative value of exports for the period April-September 2015-16 was $132939.45 million as against $ 161397.35 million over the same period last year, registering a negative growth of 17.63 per cent in Dollar terms and Rs. 853586.59 crore against Rs. 971716.43 crore in the 12.16 per cent in Rupee terms, over the period April-September 2014-15.

Imports during September, 2015 were valued at $32323.68 million in Dollar terms, 25.42 per cent lower over the level of imports valued at $ 43341.75 million in the same month last year. In rupee terms inports were valued at Rs. 214040.28 crore which was lower by 18.86 per cent from Rs. 263799.12 crore worth of imports  in September, 2014. Cumulative value of imports for the period April-September 2015-16  was $ 200934.24 million as against $ 234089.43 million, registering a negative growth of 14.16 per cent in Dollar terms and stood at Rs 1290218.42 crore in Rupee term down by 8.46 per cent of Rs1409403.56 crore in the same period last year.

Oil imports during September, 2015 were valued at $ 6626.59 million 54.53 per cent lower than oil imports valued at $ 14573.17 million in the corresponding period last year. Cumulative oil imports during April-September, 2015-16 were valued at $ 48128.96 million which was 41.58 per cent lower than the oil imports of  $ 82378.98 million in the corresponding period last year. Non-oil imports during September, 2015 were estimated at $ 25697.09 million which was 10.68 per cent lower than non-oil imports of $ 28768.58 million in September, 2014. Non-oil imports during April-September, 2015-16 were valued at $ 152805.28 million, 0.72 per cent higher than the level of such imports valued at $ 151710.45 million in April-September, 2014-15.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8162.45, down by 17.05 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 8160.55 and 8196.20. There were 17 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 1.76%, BPCL up by 1.59%, Tata Motors up by 1.06%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.97%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.83%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.21%, Lupin down by 2.01%, Adani Ports &Special down by 1.17%, Coal India down by 1.11% and ICICI Bank down by 1.08% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Jakarta Composite increased 1.62 points or 0.04% to 4,508.81, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 2.09 points or 0.12% to 1,715.34, Shanghai Composite increased 10.5 points or 0.31% to 3,348.58, Hang Seng increased 102.4 points or 0.45% to 22,990.57 and Nikkei 225 increased 246.41 points or 1.36% to 18,343.31

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted decreased by 22.31 points or 0.26% to 8,579.21 and KOSPI Index decreased 5.07 points or 0.25% to 2,028.20.