Sensex, Nifty manage to trade in green in late morning session

In a volatile trade, Indian equity benchmarks were trading in green terrain in late morning session, on the back of positive cues from other Asian markets. Traders were getting some relief, as the Ministry of Finance said in its latest Monthly Economic Review report that India's services sector has witnessed a broad-based recovery in sales revenues in both nominal and real terms during the January-March 2022 quarter 2022. The Information technology (IT) companies maintained strong growth while non-IT service companies continued to recover from the slump caused by the lockdown.

However, gains were limited, amid reports that though the headline retail price inflation rate moderated a tad in June to 7.01 per cent compared with the previous month, the majority of states and union territories (UTs) saw an increase in the rate of price rise.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, even after China's economy expanded at a much slower pace in the second quarter. Gross domestic product grew only 0.4 percent on a yearly basis in the second quarter, following the first quarter's 4.8 percent expansion. GDP was expected to climb 1.0 percent. In June, industrial production growth improved to 3.9 percent from 0.7 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 53539.10, up by 122.95 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 53383.75 and 53755.96. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.40%, while Small cap index was up by 0.12%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.29%, Consumer Durables up by 1.25%, Auto up by 1.24%, Consumer discretionary up by 0.77% and Realty up by 0.68%, while Metal down by 0.50%, IT down by 0.29%, PSU down by 0.19% and Bankex down by 0.11% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Co up by 2.35%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.29%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.06%, HDFC up by 1.55% and Nestle up by 1.55%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 2.09%, HCL Tech. down by 1.36%, Tata Steel down by 1.20%, Power Grid down by 1.09% and ICICI Bank down by 0.71% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the commerce ministry in its latest data has said that India’s merchandise exports rose 23.52 per cent to $ 40.13 billion in June 2022 as compared to $ 32.49 billion in June 2021. Merchandise imports in June 2022 were $66.31 Billion, which is an increase of 57.55 per cent over imports of $42.09 Billion in June 2021. The trade deficit widened to $26.18 billion in June 2022 from $9.60 billion from the year-ago period mainly due to jump in gold and crude oil imports.

As per the data, merchandise exports for the period April-June 2022 were $118.96 Billion as against $95.54 Billion during the period April-June 2021, registering a positive growth of 24.51 per cent. Merchandise imports for the period April-June 2022 were $189.76 Billion as against $126.96 Billion during the period April-June 2021, registering a positive growth of 49.47 per cent. The merchandise trade deficit for April-June 2022 was estimated at $70.80 Billion as against $31.42 Billion in April-June 2021, which is an increase of 125.34 per cent.

Data further showed that non-petroleum and non-gems & jewellery exports in June 2022 were $27.94 Billion, registering a positive growth of 8.65 per cent over non-petroleum and non-gems & jewellery exports of $25.71 Billion in June 2021. Non-petroleum, non-gems & jewellery (gold, silver & precious metals) imports were $38.53 Billion in June 2022 with a positive growth of 38.30 per cent over Non-petroleum, non-gems & jewellery imports of $27.86 Billion in June 2021.

It also stated that non-petroleum and non-gems & jewellery exports during April-June 2022 was $83.62 Billion, an increase of 13.81 per cent over non-petroleum and non-gems & jewellery exports of $73.47 Billion in April-June 2021. Non-petroleum, non-gems & jewellery (gold, silver & precious metals) imports were $108.97 Billion in April-June 2022, recording a positive growth of 34.80 per cent, as compared to Non-petroleum, non-gems & jewellery imports of $80.83 Billion in April-June 2021.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15981.00, up by 42.35 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 15934.90 and 16041.25. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Consumer Products up by 2.63%, Titan Co up by 2.42%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.39%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.00% and HDFC up by 1.63%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 2.09%, HCL Tech. down by 1.33%, Tata Steel down by 1.24%, Power Grid down by 1.09% and ONGC down by 0.71% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 173.45 points or 0.65% to 26,816.84, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 111.68 points or 0.77% to 14,550.20, Jakarta Composite soared 16.37 points or 0.24% to 6,706.46, Straits Times advanced 11.96 points or 0.39% to 3,102.59 and KOSPI rose 7.49 points or 0.32% to 2,329.81. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 7.87 points or 0.24% to 3,273.87 and Hang Seng decreased 247.63 points or 1.19% to 20,503.58.