Markets continue to trade lower in early noon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade lower in the early noon session on account of selling in the blue chip counters. Besides, a  weak trend at other Asian markets too dampened market sentiment. Sentiment remained dented on reports that exports of over half of the sectors, out of the 30 closely monitored by the Commerce Ministry, were in the negative zone in January due to a fall in global prices and demand. Moreover, investors remained on sidelines ahead of February F&O expiry on Thursday. Meanwhile, broader markets were also facing the heat of selling pressure. The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices were trading down by 0.80% and 0.64% respectively. Sensex and Nifty were trading below their crucial 23,600 and 7,200 levels, respectively.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, as the oil price rally that had boosted global equity markets reversed, while the euro and sterling were hit by uncertainty over Britain's membership of the European Union. Back home, in scrip specific development, shares of Richa Industries were trading higher after the company has secured an order worth Rs 23 crore from IRCON International, a government company incorporated by the Ministry of Railways.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 23556.08, down by 232.71 points or 0.98% after trading in a range of 23541.38 and 23851.51. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.80%, while Small cap index down by 0.64%.

The losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex down by 1.89%, FMCG down by 1.36%, Capital Goods down by 1.35%, Realty down by 1.21%, PSU down by 1.18%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddys Lab up by 0.77%, ONGC up by 0.72%, Sun Pharma up by 0.69%, Tata Steel up by 0.65% and Asian Paints up by 0.18%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.49%, SBI down by 2.33%, ICICI Bank down by 2.24%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.07% and Cipla down by 1.99% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, amid fall in global prices and demand, exports of over half of the sectors out of the 30 closely monitored by the Commerce Ministry were in the negative zone in the month of January 2016. Outbound shipments of as many as 17 sectors, dipped last month. According to the data of the Commerce Ministry, top two sectors - engineering and petroleum products contracted 27.6 percent and 35.18 percent, respectively during the month.

Further, agri-products, which constitute over 10 percent of the country's total shipments, too recorded a negative growth during the month under review. Overall, eight out of 13 main agriculture products slipped into negative territory.  Exports of rice, cashew and oil meals fell 33.46 percent, 24.6 per cent and 77.5 percent, respectively.

On the other hand, exports of pharmaceuticals, plastic, carpet, tea and coffee have recorded positive growth in January 2016.  Exporters' body Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has said that in order to boost the shipments, the government should announce incentives in the Budget. It said that the inverted duty structure in respect of various items may be given due consideration in the Budget as it not only effects exports but also the manufacturing sector.

India’s merchandise exports extending its decline for the fourteen months in row, plunged by 13.6 per cent in January 2016 at $21.07 billion as against $24.39 billion in January last year. Decline in these exports has been instrumental in dragging down India's overall merchandise exports. Due to continuous dip, the total merchandise shipments are expected to reach a figure of $270 billion in 2015-16.  India has aimed at taking exports of goods and services to $900 billion by 2020 and raising the country's share in world exports to 3.5 percent from 2 percent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7161.75, down by 72.80 points or 1.01% after trading in a range of 7158.85 and 7241.70. There were 10 stocks advancing against 40 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 0.88%, Sun Pharma up by 0.82%, ONGC up by 0.77%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 0.72% and Tata Power up by 0.34%. On the flip side, PNB down by 2.78%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.63%, Idea Cellular down by 2.37%, Bank of Baroda down by 2.26% and SBI down by 2.21% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Jakarta Composite decreased 33.08 points or 0.7% to 4,675.54, Nikkei 225 decreased 30.26 points or 0.19% to 16,080.79, Shanghai Composite decreased 23.45 points or 0.8% to 2,903.72 and KOSPI Index decreased 3.18 points or 0.17% to 1,913.18, while Hang Seng increased 4.97 points or 0.03% to 19,469.06, Taiwan Weighted increased 7.96 points or 0.1% to 8,334.64 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 8.91 points or 0.53% to 1,683.50.