Benchmarks continue to trade lower in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade lower in morning deals, amid weak cues from the global markets. Traders remained cautious with a private report that foreign funds' ownership in domestic equities fell to pre-COVID lows and hit a multi-year low of 19.5 per cent in March this year in NSE500 companies valued at $619 billion. Traders overlooked Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that the recent interest rate hike by the Reserve Bank was not surprising for her but the timing was, asserting that the rising cost of funds will not impact the government's planned infrastructure investments. Market participants also paid no heed towards private report stated that with the e-way bills generated for inter-state trade in goods under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime in April turning out to be the second highest so far, the monthly GST collections may hit Rs 1.5 trillion benchmark again in May (April transactions).

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, with weakness across all sectors amid concerns of further monetary policy tightening after the RBA said it will need to raise interest rates further. Back home, Paper industry stocks remained in limelight as industry body IPMA said that paper consumption in India is likely to witness 6 to 7 per cent annual growth and will reach 30 million tonnes by FY 2026-27, largely driven by emphasis on education and literacy coupled with growth in organised retail.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 54262.77, down by 572.81 points or 1.04% after trading in a range of 53918.02 and 54365.83. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 1.50%, while Small cap index was down by 1.45%.

The lone gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Telecom up by 0.40%, while Metal down by 2.13%, Utilities down by 1.72%, Power down by 1.65%, Energy down by 1.63% and Industrials down by 1.55% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid Corporation up by 1.55%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.29%, HCL Technologies up by 1.02%, Infosys up by 0.94% and Bajaj Finance up by 0.27%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 3.32%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.95%, Reliance Industries down by 2.89%, Tata Steel down by 2.35% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.55% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Indian Paper Manufacturers Association (IPMA) has said paper consumption in India may witness 6 to 7 per cent annual growth and will reach 30 million tonnes by FY2026-27. IPMA said the emphasis on education and literacy coupled with growth in organised retail and demand for better quality paper are the major drivers of growth.

Further, it stated the paper Industry holds immense potential for growth in India as the per capita consumption globally is one of the lowest. It mentioned that around 15 per cent of the world population stays in India but consumes only 5 per cent of the total paper produced in the world. Moreover, it said there has been continued demand for quality packaging of FMCG products, pharmaceuticals, textiles, organised retail, booming e-commerce, and other segments.

Besides, it said paper Industry in the country has undergone a transformation of sorts in the last few years. The industry has gone up the sustainability curve and has become far more technologically advanced. It added in the last five to seven years, an amount of over Rs 25,000 crore has been invested in new efficient capacities and induction of clean and green technologies. The estimated turnover of the industry is Rs 70,000 crore with domestic market size of Rs 80,000 crore.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16240.10, down by 171.15 points or 1.04% after trading in a range of 16142.10 and 16270.80. There were 11 stocks advancing against 39 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were UPL up by 1.59%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.36%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.29%, HCL Technologies up by 1.21% and Power Grid Corporation up by 1.05%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 3.44%, Tech Mahindra down by 3.35%, Reliance Industries down by 3.06%, JSW Steel down by 2.69% and Tata Steel down by 2.25% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Jakarta Composite lost 280.60 points or 3.88% to 6,948.31, Straits Times trembled 2.88 points or 0.09% to 3,289.01, KOSPI fell 34.80 points or 1.32% to 2,609.71, Nikkei 225 slipped 647.17 points or 2.4% to 26,356.39 and Taiwan Weighted dropped 295.70 points or 1.8% to 16,112.50.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite gained 3.56 points or 0.12% to 3,005.12.