Weak trade continues on Dalal Street

Weak trade continued on Dalal Street in late afternoon sessions, on account of negative cues from European markets. Traders were cautious, as Moody's said there are risks of India missing 3.3 per cent fiscal deficit target for the current financial year if tax revenue falls short of projection. The Budget 2019-20 lowered fiscal deficit projection for the current financial year to 3.3 per cent from 3.4 per cent targeted in the Interim Budget 2019-20 in February. The street remained pessimistic even though India unveiled a budget aimed at boosting infrastructure and foreign investment.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red, as Germany's factory orders declined more-than-expected in May. The figures from Destatis showed that factory orders decreased 2.2 percent month-on-month in May, in contrast to a 0.4 percent rise in April. On a yearly basis, factory orders plunged 8.6 percent annually, bigger than the 5.3 percent decrease seen in April. Orders were forecast to decline 6.3 percent. Asian markets were trading mixed.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39654.78, down by 253.28 points or 0.63% after trading in a range of 39441.38 and 40032.41. 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 0.74%, while Small cap index was down by 0.96%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.81%, FMCG up by 0.56% and Bankex up by 0.37%, while Power down by 2.90%, Metal down by 2.82%, IT down by 2.68%, TECK down by 2.29% and Realty down by 1.98% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 2.56%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.35%, SBI up by 1.20%, ITC up by 0.94% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.92%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 6.44%, NTPC down by 4.12%, TCS down by 3.98%, Vedanta down by 3.51% and Sun Pharma down by 3.07% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to boost exports & domestic manufacturing and to reduce trade deficit, Ministry of Commerce and Industry has started an exercise to review the current Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20. The present Foreign Trade Policy was brought out on April 01, 2015 and is valid for five years which ends on March 31, 2020. A midterm review was held in December 2017 after the introduction of GST.

Further, the Commerce Ministry’s arm--Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) invited suggestions for the formulation of the next foreign trade policy, within 15 days, from all concerned.

In this regard, the Commerce Ministry is also holding consultations with various stakeholders including exporters, industry associations, commodity boards, foreign missions, State governments and various ministries of Government of India.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11859.10, down by 87.65 points or 0.73% after trading in a range of 11798.65 and 11981.75. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 3.70%, Indusind Bank up by 2.71%, SBI up by 1.33%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.26% and Bharti Infratel up by 1.03%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 6.70%, NTPC down by 4.18%, UPL down by 3.91%, TCS down by 3.91% and Wipro down by 3.89% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 surged 43.93 points or 0.2% to 21,746.38, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 9.83 points or 0.09% to 10,785.73, Shanghai Composite gained 7.79 points or 0.26% to 3,013.04 and KOSPI was up by 1.86 points or 0.09% to 2,110.59. On the flip side, Straits Times trembled 8.99 points or 0.27% to 3,363.26, Jakarta Composite lost 11.02 points or 0.17% to 6,364.95 and Hang Seng was down by 13.76 points or 0.05% to 28,782.01.

All European markets were trading in red; FTSE lost 23.31 points or 0.31% to 7,580.27, CAC fell 16.76 points or 0.30% to 5,603.97 and DAX was down by 25.92 points or 0.21% to 12,603.98.