Weak trade continues on Dalal Street

Indian equity benchmarks continued their weak trade in early afternoon deals, as doubts over the composition of the next government in the southern state of Karnataka dampened investor risk appetite. The sentiments remained sluggish with report that India’s trade deficit slightly widened to $13.72 billion in April from $13.25 billion a year ago. Exports grew by 5.17% to $25.91 billion in April compared to the same month last year on account of healthy performance by engineering, chemicals and pharmaceutical segments. Imports too grew by 4.60% to $39.63 billion in the month on yearly basis. Some pessimism also came with a private report which stated that inflation is set to rise further towards the second half of the fiscal, and could average 5.1% this financial year compared to 3.6% last year. The key indices suffered also due to sustained foreign fund outflows coupled with a weak trend at other Asian bourses. However, some losses got trimmed with Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu pitching for inclusion of the trade facilitation pact on services in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) saying it would help promote growth of the global economy. In scrip specific development, Shreyas Shipping & Logistics surged over three and half percent on signing a MOA for acquisition of one container vessel of about 2500 teus.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, following the negative cues from Wall Street amid worries about rising US Treasury yields. News that North Korea has abruptly cancelled high-level talks with South Korea slated for Wednesday and also threatened to pull out of a planned summit with the US further dampened investor sentiment.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35384.10, down by 159.84 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 35241.63 and 35452.35. There were 12 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.35%, while Small cap index was down by 0.26%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.68%, IT up by 0.23%, FMCG up by 0.18%, TECK up by 0.13% and Consumer Durables up by 0.12%, while Energy down by 1.51%, Oil & Gas down by 1.50%, PSU down by 1.29%, Bankex down by 0.90% and Capital Goods down by 0.49% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 1.22%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.07%, Tata Motors up by 0.89%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 0.75% and Yes Bank up by 0.65%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.58%, ICICI Bank down by 2.50%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.81%, SBI down by 1.73% and Reliance Industries down by 1.67% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, recovering from the last month’s decline of 0.66%, India’s merchandise exports jumped 5.17% in the month of April 2018, primarily with the help of double digit growth in shipment of engineering, chemicals and pharmaceutical segments. However, trade deficit widened slightly to $13.72 billion in April from $13.25 billion a year ago. Besides, overall trade deficit, taking merchandise and services together, for April-March 2017-18 is estimated at $80.61 billion as compared to $41.79 billion during April-March 2016-17. Imports too grew by 4.60% Year-on-Year basis in the first month of current fiscal year.

As per the data released by the Commerce Ministry, exports grew by 5.17% to $25.91 billion in April 2018, as compared to $24.64 billion in the same month a year ago. In Rupee terms, exports surged by 7.01% to Rs 170052.96 crore in April 2018, as compared to Rs 158913.79 crore in April 2017. Non-petroleum and Non Gems & Jewellery exports in April 2018 were valued at $19.80 billion as against $17.72 billion in April 2017, an increase of 11.73%.

Imports during April 2018, increased by 4.60% to $39.63 billion as compared to $37.88 billion in April 2017, while in rupee terms it was up by 6.43% to Rs 260084.67 crore from Rs 244380.52 crore in April 2017. Oil imports during April 2018 were valued at $10.41 billion which was 41.49% higher than oil imports valued at $7.36 billion in April 2017. Non-oil imports during April 2018 were estimated at $29.21 billion which was 4.30% lower than non-oil imports of $30.53 billion in April 2017.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10741.65, down by 60.20 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 10699.70 and 10764.80. There were 13 stocks advancing against 37 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Lupin up by 1.76%, Wipro up by 1.22%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.15%, Yes Bank up by 0.93% and Tata Motors up by 0.84%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 3.07%, ICICI Bank down by 2.68%, Ultratech Cement down by 2.66%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.42% and HPCL down by 2.12% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 100.79 points or 0.44% to 22,717.23, Jakarta Composite shed 78.11 points or 1.34% to 5,760.00, Hang Seng was down by 63.98 points or 0.21% to 31,088.05 and Shanghai Composite dipped 10.67 points or 0.33% to 3,181.45.

On the flip side, KOSPI Index increased 1.28 points or 0.05% to 2,459.82, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 6.33 points or 0.34% to 1,854.53 and Taiwan Weighted rose 22.84 points or 0.21% to 10,897.57.