Markets trade higher with marginal gains in early deals

Indian equity markets made a positive start and are trading in green with marginal gains in early deals on Thursday, as gains remain capped with report that India’s export growth slid to a four-month low of 0.64% in April as shipments of engineering goods, gems and jewellery, leather and other products declined, widening the trade deficit to a five-month high. Imports increased by 4.5%, the highest growth in the last six months as crude oil and gold shipments shot up in the month. However, investors remain concerned with report that monsoon rains are expected to hit Kerala on June 6, five days after its normal onset date. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) also said the southwest monsoon arrival over the State is likely to be slightly delayed. Meanwhile, the corporate affairs ministry has amended the rules pertaining to incorporation of companies to provide more clarity and uniformity in choosing names for the companies. The ministry has brought in amendments to the Companies (Incorporation) Rules, 2014. The move also comes against the backdrop of instances where applications by companies for registering their names have been rejected due to various reasons, including trademark issues and proposed names being too general.

On the global front, the US markets ended higher on Wednesday on hopes that thawing trade tensions will boost the outlook for the world economy. Asian Market are trading Mix despite the positive cues overnight from Wall Street after media reports indicated U.S. President Donald Trump plans to delay imposing the auto tariffs by up to six months. Back home, in scrip specific developments, Lumax Industries surged despites reporting 20% fall in Q4 consolidated net profit and Newgen Software jumped on reporting 5% rise in Q4 consolidated net profit.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 37177.75, up by 62.87 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 37108.86 and 37204.77. There were 19 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green and red; the BSE Mid cap index slipped by 0.12%, while Small cap index was up by 0.03%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.84%, IT up by 0.70%, TECK up by 0.70%, Power up by 0.61% and Utilities was up by 0.52%, while Healthcare down by 0.88%, Capital Goods down by 0.33%, Oil & Gas down by 0.24%, FMCG down by 0.12% and Industrials was down by 0.08% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 2.59%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 2.23%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.68%, Power Grid Corporation up by 1.45% and Infosys was up by 1.33%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma Industries down by 1.03%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.93%, Coal India down by 0.87%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.84% and Indusind Bank was down by 0.82% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, dampening prospects of higher farm and economic growth, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that the monsoon is likely to be delayed this year as its arrival expected on June 6, five days after its normal onset date. It added that this year, the statistical model forecast suggests that the monsoon onset over Kerala is likely to be slightly delayed. It also said conditions are becoming favourable for advance of southwest monsoon over the southern part of Andaman Sea, Nicobar Islands and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal during May 18-19.

The normal onset date for monsoon over Kerala is June 1, which also marks the official commencement of the four-month rainfall season. If the monsoon arrives late, it will be third such instance since 2014 when it arrived on June 5, followed by June 6 in 2015 and June 8 in 2016. Though, it said that the delay in the arrival of monsoon may not necessarily have an impact on the overall rainfall. Last year, it had hit Kerala on May 29, three days before the normal onset date. Yet, the country received ‘below-normal’ rainfall.

Similarly, in 2017, the monsoon arrived in Kerala on May 30, but the overall rainfall was 95% of the long period average (LPA), which falls under the below normal category. Besides, in its initial forecast released in April, the IMD had predicted a near-normal rainfall with an LPA of 96%, which falls on the border of ‘below-normal’ and ‘normal’ rainfall category.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11176.85, up by 19.85 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 11153.20 and 11185.20. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 2.77%, Bharti Infratel up by 1.88%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.76%, Power Grid Corporation up by 1.54% and Infosys was up by 1.42%. On the flip side, Indiabulls Housing down by 2.36%, Eicher Motors down by 2.24%, Sun Pharma Industries down by 1.17%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 1.03% and Cipla was down by 1.01% were the top losers.

Asian Market are trading Mix; Hang Seng increased 68.20 points or 0.24% to 28,336.91, Shanghai Composite gained 8.33 points or 0.28% to 2,947.01 and Straits Times was up by 1.80 points or 0.06% to 3,220.57. On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted dropped 2.73 points or 0.03% to 10,557.98, KOSPI fell 18.68 points or 0.89% to 2,074.10, Jakarta Composite lost 74.69 points or 1.25% to 5,906.20 and Nikkei 225 was down by 142.98 points or 0.67% to 21,045.58.