Benchmarks continue weak trade in morning session

Indian equity benchmarks continued their weak trade in morning session on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters. Traders remained cautious as the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in its latest data has stated that India's trade deficit rose 87.5 per cent to $192.41 billion in 2021-22 as against $102.63 billion in the previous year. The trade deficit in March 2022 was $18.69 billion. Traders also took a note of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman’s statement that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) staying in the country and creating jobs and prospects, and not the outflow of Foreign Institute Investors (FIIs) and Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs), should be assessed to measure robustness of the Indian economy. Meanwhile, to curb possible misuse of Power of Attorney (PoA) given by clients to stock brokers, Sebi came out with fresh guidelines wherein execution of a new document will be made compulsory for transfer of securities towards deliveries and settlements. On the global front, Asian markets are trading in green despite oil prices jumped on supply concerns and investors awaited the release of FOMC minutes for clues to inflation and rate outlook.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60357.43, down by 254.31 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 60281.79 and 60786.07. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.67%, while Small cap index was up by 1.15%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 1.82%, Power up by 1.77%, Industrials up by 1.51%, Auto up by 1.26% and Consumer Durables up by 1.08%, while Bankex down by 0.82%, Realty down by 0.24% and Metal down by 0.11% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 1.32%, NTPC up by 1.28%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.26%, TCS up by 1.17% and ITC up by 1.12%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 2.68%, HDFC down by 2.19%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.44%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.25% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.74% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in its latest data has stated that India's trade deficit rose 87.5 per cent to $192.41 billion in 2021-22 as against $102.63 billion in the previous year. The trade deficit in March 2022 was $18.69 billion. It showed that while total exports during last fiscal year increased to a record high of $417.81 billion, imports too soared to $610.22 billion, leaving a trade gap of $192.41 billion.

For the first time, India's monthly merchandise exports exceeded $40 billion, reaching $40.38 billion in March 2022, an increase of 14.53 per cent over $35.26 billion in the year-ago month. It was up by 87.89 per cent over $21.49 billion in March 2020. It said the country's merchandise import last month stood at $59.07 billion, an increase of 20.79 per cent over $48.90 billion in the year-ago period. It was up 87.68 per cent over $31.47 billion in March 2020.

Besides, it mentioned that during March 2022, the value of non-petroleum exports stood at $33 billion, registering a growth of 4.28 per cent over $31.65 billion in the same month a year ago. Non-petroleum exports grew by 74 per cent from $18.97 billion in March 2020. Non-petroleum import stood at $40.66 billion during March 2022, showing a rise of 5.26 per cent over $38.63 billion in the year-ago month. It was up by 89.79 per cent from $21.42 billion in March 2020.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17995.30, down by 58.10 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 17972.30 and 18089.70. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports &SEZ up by 4.03%, Eicher Motors up by 2.43%, Tata Motors up by 2.28%, UPL up by 1.84% and ONGC up by 1.58%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 2.76%, HDFC down by 2.28%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.46%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.20% and Divi's Lab down by 1.08% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading in green; Nikkei 225 surged 46.81 points or 0.17% to 27,783.28, Jakarta Composite soared 7.16 points or 0.1% to 7,123.38. KOSPI rose 0.87 points or 0.03% to 2,758.77 and Straits Times advanced 10.27 points or 0.3% to 3,427.24