Benchmarks continue to trade in red in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in red in morning deals, due to losses in IT, TECK and Capital Goods stocks. Sentiments remained down-beat as investment in the Indian capital markets through participatory notes dropped to Rs 88,398 crore month-on-month in February amid higher valuation of domestic markets. This was the third consecutive monthly decline in the investment level. Some concern also came as a credit rating agency Crisil stating that India Inc is likely to report a halving of revenue growth in the fourth quarter of FY23, as companies start reporting their financials. It said the revenue growth will come down to 10-12 per cent as against 22.8 per cent for the January-March period in the year-ago. Traders overlooked Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the country's exports rose by about 6 per cent to a record $447 billion during 2022-23 on account of healthy growth in the outbound shipments of sectors such as petroleum, pharma and chemicals and marine.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed as worries continued about economic growth, even as some hopes were perked by a recent rise in US bank issues. Traders are also focused on upcoming earnings reports from global companies. Worries continue about inflationary pressures, and how that might affect moves by the Federal Reserve and the world’s other central banks on interest rates. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59711.14, down by 719.86 points or 1.19% after trading in a range of 59442.47 and 60407.86. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.01%, while Small cap index was down by 0.21%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 0.85%, Power up by 0.71%, Utilities up by 0.56%, PSU up by 0.33% and Consumer Durables up by 0.32%, while IT down by 5.73%, TECK down by 5.42%, Capital Goods down by 0.88%, Telecom down by 0.84% and Industrials down by 0.67% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Nestle up by 2.57%, Power Grid Corporation up by 2.55%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.81%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.23% and Indusind Bank up by 1.19%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 10.73%, Tech Mahindra down by 5.65%, HCL Technologies down by 3.07%, Wipro down by 2.57% and TCS down by 2.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal has said that India will completely protect the interests of farmers and dairy sector in the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union. He said that Italy and France have offered unstinted support for the early conclusion of negotiations for the India-EU trade agreement.

He stated the kind of business opportunities which India provides for EU businesses are huge and nobody can provide those in the world. Chief negotiators of India and the European Union (EU) are scheduled to meet from June 19-23 in New Delhi for the fifth round of negotiations.
India had started negotiations for a trade pact with the EU in 2007 but the talks stalled in 2013 as both sides failed to reach an agreement on key issues, including customs duties on automobiles and spirits and the movement of professionals. India’s merchandise exports to EU member countries stood at about $65 billion in 2021-22, while imports aggregated $51.4 billion.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17640.65, down by 187.35 points or 1.05% after trading in a range of 17574.05 and 17863.00. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Britannia Industries up by 2.75%, Nestle up by 2.64%, Power Grid Corporation up by 2.55%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.75% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.33%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 10.98%, Tech Mahindra down by 5.76%, HCL Technologies down by 3.16%, Wipro down by 2.73% and TCS down by 2.64% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Nikkei 225 surged 19.05 points or 0.07% to 28,512.52, Hang Seng advanced 110.03 points or 0.54% to 20,548.84, Shanghai Composite strengthened 32.6 points or 0.97% to 3,370.75 and KOSPI increased 0.18 points or 0.01% to 2,571.67. On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted lost 23.52 points or 0.15% to 15,905.91, Jakarta Composite plunged 42.68 points or 0.63% to 6,775.89 and Straits Times fell 0.11 points or 0% to 3,302.55.