Benchmarks trade marginally in red mirroring weakness in Asian peers

Indian equity benchmarks made a pessimistic start and are trading marginally lower in early deals mirroring weakness in Asian peers amid global growth concerns. Traders remained concern about a report that the government may be staring at higher-than-projected deficit for the current fiscal with country's direct tax revenue expected to fall short by Rs 60,000 to 70,000 crore over the revised target of Rs 12 lakh crore for FY19. As per the report, the direct tax revenue growth is at 12.2 per cent so far as against revised full year aim of 19.8 per cent. However, losses remain capped as some solace came with Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu’s statement that the country’s goods export will touch $330 billion in 2018-19, which will be the highest ever. He said the country's merchandise exports have seen high growth in the past six years through sector-specific interventions, focused export promotion initiatives, and quick resolution of issues.

On the global front, all the Asian counters are trading in red terrain at this point of time on the back of an overnight slide on Wall Street, as investors grappled with fresh concerns over the state of the global economy. The US markets ended lower on Thursday after the European Central Bank unveiled plans to deploy additional stimulus, raising fresh worries about the health of the global economy. Back home, textile industry stocks remained in focus with report that the Union Cabinet has approved a scheme for rebate of all state and central embedded levies for apparel and made-up textile segments, which would make shipments zero-rated, thereby boosting the country's competitiveness in export markets.  Meanwhile, shares of Arvind Fashions, the de-merged business of Arvind, got listed at Rs 591.75 on BSE. The scrip gained 5 per cent over its listing price to trade at Rs 621.30 in the early trade.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36650.55, down by 74.87 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 36610.47 and 36753.59. There were 11 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index slipped 0.20%, while Small cap index was up by 0.20%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.65%, Utilities up by 0.46%, Power up by 0.44%, FMCG up by 0.34% and Healthcare was up by 0.20%, while Metal down by 1.22%, Oil & Gas down by 0.82%, IT down by 0.76%, TECK down by 0.65% and Basic Materials was down by 0.59% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 2.46%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.28%, Bajaj Auto up by 0.90%, Sun Pharma up by 0.71% and ITC up by 0.67%. On the flip side, Tata Motors - DVR down by 2.63%, Tata Motors down by 2.22%, HCL Tech down by 1.80%, Vedanta down by 1.51% and Infosys down by 1.28% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over export growth, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has said that India’s export of goods may touch $330 billion in 2018-19. He added that this will be the highest ever growth. He said the country's merchandise exports have seen high growth in the past six years through sector-specific interventions, focused export promotion initiatives, and quick resolution of issues.

With the structural reforms that have been put in place over the past five years by the ministry and action-oriented plans for major sectors, Prabhu said India is on the path to become the fifth-largest economy this year. He also said the Department of Commerce has identified nine sectors that are gems and jewellery, leather, textiles, engineering, electronics, chemicals, pharma, agriculture and marine products to achieve at least 16% growth in exports in 2018-19.

Besides, continuing its growth trajectory for the fourth straight month, India's exports grew by 3.74% to $26.36 billion in January, as exports of gems and jewellery, chemicals and pharmaceuticals increased. Cumulative value of exports for the period April- January 2018-19 was $271.80 billion as against $248.18 billion during the period April- January 2017-18, registering a positive growth of 9.52%.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11022.00, down by 36.20 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 11015.30 and 11048.00. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 2.60%, Indiabulls Housing up by 1.11%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.99%, Bharti Infratel up by 0.97% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.92%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 3.18%, Hindalco down by 2.74%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 2.46%, Tata Motors down by 2.32% and HCL Tech down by 1.84% were the top losers.

All the Asian markets are trading in red; Nikkei 225 declined 426.64 points or 1.99% to 21,029.37, Straits Times decreased 21.73 points or 0.67% to 3,207.75, Hang Seng dropped 432.21 points or 1.50% to 28,347.24, Taiwan Weighted shed 70.33 points or 0.68% to 10,241.35, KOSPI tumbled 23.20 points or 1.07% to 2,142.59, Jakarta Composite dipped 48.80 points or 0.76% to 6,409.16 and Shanghai Composite was down by 90.20 points or 2.90% to 3,016.22.