Indian equities continue to exhibit weakness in afternoon deals

Adding some losses, Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade lower in afternoon session, as selling momentum in the equities persisted. Cautiousness remained in markets ahead of June derivatives series expiry due today. Sentiments remained weak with chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian’s statement that apart from high oil prices, the biggest headwind for India’s growth prospects was stigmatised capitalism, or the view that the private sector could not be trusted. Some anxiety was also among the local traders with a report stated that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) investigation wing has detected tax evasion of over Rs 2,000 crore in two months, and data analysis reveals that only 1% of over 1.11 crore registered businesses pay 80% of the taxes. Moreover, the weakness in rupee and lingering trade concerns also weighed on the market. The broader markets were also trading in line with large peers. On the sectoral front, Telecom stocks were trading lower after TRAI indicating that the gross revenue of telecom operators slipped 1.76 percent year-on-year during the quarter ending March 2018, while licence fee and spectrum charges, that government collects from them, fell 12.7 percent and 23.4 percent respectively. Besides, shares of Oil marketing companies, Aviation and Tyre companies fell after international crude oil prices spiked further.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, on growing worries the US administration's approach to trade is harming global economic growth even as it appeared to be modifying its approach to curb Chinese investments in US technology firms. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35102.97, down by 114.14 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 35090.60 and 35282.40. There were 9 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.92%, while Small cap index was down by 1.19%.

The lone gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Metal up by 0.03% while, Realty down by 2.35%, Utilities down by 1.64%, Consumer Durables down by 1.60%, Power down by 1.17% and Oil & Gas down by 0.95% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.67%, Infosys up by 1.34%, Tata Steel up by 0.97%, ONGC up by 0.96% and Axis Bank up by 0.80%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 2.05%, Coal India down by 1.82%, ICICI Bank down by 1.76%, HDFC down by 1.41% and Yes Bank down by 1.36% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Minister for Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu has reviewed development of a strategy for revitalizing India's exports. He took stock of the latest export trends and expressed confidence over robust growth of total exports by 12.9% in 2017-18. 

Prabhu has stated that trade events are being organised in African, Central and South American countries to find new markets for exports and to introduce new products, because of these measures, exports are continuously registering growth. Further, he reviewed the development of $100 Billion Additional Export Strategy focussing on Champion & Promising products and market retention. He added that this is envisaged as a multipronged sector wise strategy focussing on traditional and new products & markets.

The Minister further mentioned that Commodity Specific Strategy includes products like Gems &Jewellery, Leather, Textile& Apparel, Pharmaceuticals, Electronics, Engineering Sector, Chemical & Petrochemicals, Marine Products and Agriculture & Allied Products. It also noted that Territory Specific Strategy include regions like NAFTA, Europe, North East Asia, ASEAN, South Asia, Latin America, Africa& WANA, CIS, Australia and New Zealand. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10622.25, down by 49.15 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 10616.30 and 10674.20. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.56%, Infosys up by 1.34%, Tata Steel up by 0.98%, Axis Bank up by 0.88% and Lupin up by 0.86%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 4.04%, Titan Co down by 3.43%, GAIL India down by 2.65%, HPCL down by 2.48% and BPCL down by 1.97% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 declined 1.38 points or 0.01% to 22,270.39, Taiwan Weighted slipped 46.75 points or 0.44% to 10,654.28, KOSPI decreased 27.79 points or 1.20% to 2,314.24, Shanghai Composite slipped 20.49 points or 0.73% to 2,792.69 and Jakarta Composite was down by 108.16 points or 1.90% to 5,679.39 and Hang Seng decreased 130.41 points or 0.46% to 28,225.85.

On the flip side, Straits Times added by 2.09 points or 0.06% to 3,256.86.