Benchmarks continue to trade lower in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade lower in morning deals, mirroring an extremely weak trend in Asian markets. Also, unabated foreign fund outflows and selling in index majors Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra and Hindustan Unilever added to the weak sentiment. Traders remained cautious as a private report cut India's 2022-23 economic growth forecast by 70 basis points to 7 percent, citing slowing global growth due to high commodity prices, and weak local demand because of energy price hikes, inflationary pressures and a struggling labour market. Traders overlooked a survey by economic think-tank NCAER stating that business confidence index (BCI) improved in the January-March period of this year (Q4FY22) and would remain buoyant in the coming months. It said the BCI increased for the third consecutive quarter by 14.9 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis from 124.4 points in October-December period of 2021–22 to 142.9 points in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the GST Council has not sought views from states on hiking tax rates. They said that the panel of ministers looking into GST rate rationalisation is yet to submit its report to the GST Council.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading in red after US Federal Reserve hinted at aggressive rate hikes going ahead to control inflation which is at highest level in nearly 4 decades in US. Worries about growth amid the ongoing Ukraine war and the extended lockdown in Shanghai also hurt sentiment and triggered widespread selling. Back home, stocks related pharma sector remained in watch as Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said as the recent COVID-19 pandemic scenario has shown the resilience of the pharmaceutical sector, the Central government will engage with industry and academia to chalk roadmap for pharma and medical devices for the next 25 years.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 56767.12, down by 430.03 points or 0.75% after trading in a range of 56412.14 and 56875.65. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 1.30%, while Small cap index was down by 1.13%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.31% and Auto up by 0.05%, while Realty down by 2.91%, Metal down by 2.88%, Telecom down by 1.90%, IT down by 1.81% and FMCG down by 1.71% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 1.70%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.88%, Axis Bank up by 0.79% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.19%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 3.08%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.61%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.31%, ITC down by 2.03% and Wipro down by 2.02% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the commerce ministry has said exports of ceramics and glassware products touched a record $3.5 billion in 2021-22 (FY22).  The ministry said the exports rose because of increase in shipments of ceramic tiles and sanitaryware products.

India exports to more than 125 countries and top destinations are Saudi Arabia, the United States, Mexico, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Oman, Indonesia, the United Kingdom and Poland. It mentioned over the years, the industry has been modernizing through new innovations and product profile, quality and design to emerge as a modern world class industry ready to take on global competition.

India is the world's second largest manufacturer of tiles. The main items for export under glassware include articles of glass packing, sanitary fixtures of porcelain, glass mirror, tinted non-wired glass, glass bead and glass wool.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17005.65, down by 166.30 points or 0.97% after trading in a range of 16928.60 and 17054.30. There were 7 stocks advancing against 43 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ICICI Bank up by 1.62%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.48%, Hero MotoCorp up by 0.95%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.75% and Axis Bank up by 0.65%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 5.06%, Coal India down by 3.49%, Tata Steel down by 3.34%, Britannia Industries down by 2.84% and Tech Mahindra down by 2.79% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 493.91 points or 1.82% to 26,611.35, Taiwan Weighted dropped 399.25 points or 2.35% to 16,625.84, Hang Seng decreased 534.85 points or 2.59% to 20,103.67, Jakarta Composite lost 10.14 points or 0.14% to 7,215.47, KOSPI fell 39.85 points or 1.47% to 2,664.86, Shanghai Composite declined 74.74 points or 2.42% to 3,012.18 and Straits Times trembled 5.77 points or 0.17% to 3,355.34.