Benchmarks continue to trade with steep losses in late afternoon session

Markets continued to trade with steep losses in late afternoon session on the back of weakness in the Consumer Durables and Realty sectors. The overall market breadth was negative as 2042 shares were declining and 1208 were advancing, while 117 shares were unchanged on the BSE. Traders were cautious ahead of Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee decision on June 8, 2022 and surge in crude oil prices. Sector wise, automobile sector remained in focused, as automobile dealers' body Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) has said retail sales of passenger vehicles grew last month of current year (May 2022) but the sales of two-wheeler and commercial vehicles remained low compared to the pre-COVID month of May 2019. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed after a sell-off in the U.S. bond market overnight fueled anxiety about a possible economic slowdown. European markets were trading lower on signs of economic slowdown ahead of a European Central Bank meeting that could signal monetary policy tightening.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 55032.34, down by 642.98 points or 1.15% after trading in a range of 54882.41 and 55387.77. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 1.17%, while Small cap index was down by 0.87%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 0.89%, Oil & Gas up by 0.86%, Utilities up by 0.65%, Power up by 0.50% and PSU was up by 0.33%, while Consumer Durables down by 3.01%, Realty down by 1.94%, Capital Goods down by 1.77%, FMCG down by 1.67% and Consumer Discretionary was down by 1.51% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 0.89%, Reliance Industries up by 0.53%, NTPC up by 0.42%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.20% and Power Grid up by 0.11%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 4.73%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 4.04%, Larsen & Toubro down by 3.05%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.93% and Asian Paints down by 2.93% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an increasing economic ties, India's bilateral trade with all the six members of GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) group countries, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia, increased significantly in 2021-22, as the country’s exports to the GCC surged by 58.26 per cent to about $44 billion in 2021-22 against $27.8 billion in 2020-21.

According to the data of the commerce ministry, the share of these six countries in India's total exports has risen to 10.4 per cent in 2021-22 from 9.51 per cent in 2020-21. Similarly, imports rose by 85.8 per cent to $110.73 billion compared to $59.6 billion in 2020-21.

The data report further showed that the share of GCC members in India's total imports rose to 18 per cent in 2021-22 from 15.5 per cent in 2020-21, while bilateral trade has increased to $154.73 billion in 2021-22 from $87.4 billion in 2020-21.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16383.15, down by 186.40 points or 1.12% after trading in a range of 16347.10 and 16487.25. There were 8 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 5.07%, Coal India up by 1.31%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.84%, Reliance Industries up by 0.47% and NTPC up by 0.32%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 4.70%, UPL down by 4.36%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 4.10%, Britannia down by 3.81% and Larsen & Toubro down by 3.18% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Jakarta Composite soared 44.46 points or 0.63% to 7,141.04, Nikkei 225 surged 28.06 points or 0.1% to 27,943.95 and Shanghai Composite was up by 5.39 points or 0.17% to 3,241.76. On the flip side, Straits Times trembled 0.96 points or 0.03% to 3,225.67, KOSPI fell 44.31 points or 1.66% to 2,626.34, Taiwan Weighted dropped 93.08 points or 0.56% to 16,512.88 and Hang Seng was down by 122.23 points or 0.56% to 21,531.67.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 4.35 points or 0.06% to 7,603.87, France’s CAC decreased 33.21 points or 0.51% to 6,515.57 and Germany’s DAX was down by 107.91 points or 0.74% to 14,545.90.