Benchmarks continue to trade lower in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade lower in morning deals, amid weak global cues. Traders remained cautious with a private report that India’s unemployment rate climbed to a four-month high, as there were more people joining the workforce compared to available jobs in Asia’s third largest economy. Creating enough jobs for India’s burgeoning population will remain a key challenge for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, especially as he looks to a third term in office in national elections due next summer. However, losses remain capped as traders took some support with data released by S&P Global showing that India's services sector surged in April as the sector's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) jumped to 62.0 from 57.8 in March. At 62.0, the services PMI is the highest in nearly 13 years. It has stayed above the key level of 50 that separates expansion in activity from a contraction for 21 months in a row. On the global front, Asian markets are trading in red as caution prevailed across markets ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate decision later in the day.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61181.90, down by 172.81 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 61024.44 and 61274.96. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.45%, while Small cap index was up by 0.43%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.15%, FMCG up by 0.78%, Industrials up by 0.38%, Capital Goods up by 0.21% and Power up by 0.20%, while Metal down by 0.72%, TECK down by 0.60%, IT down by 0.56%, Oil & Gas down by 0.35% and Bankex down by 0.33% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 1.93%, ITC up by 0.85%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.80%, Nestle up by 0.60% and Titan Company up by 0.18%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 0.87%, Sun Pharma down by 0.86%, TCS down by 0.84%, HCL Technologies down by 0.84% and ICICI Bank down by 0.82% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said it is essential for emerging economies to become growth engines and help in resolving challenges facing the world. Further Sitharaman said the G20 Presidency has come at a crucial stage to the emerging economies, stressing that three years are critical for the global economy, which is going through a reset.

India currently holds the presidency of G20, which is a grouping of developing and developed countries. India has taken over the presidency from Indonesia and will hand it over to Brazil later in the year. She said the G20 troika -- Indonesia, India and Brazil -- are all emerging economies, and hence it is important that the voice of the global south be heard. The 'Global South' largely refers to countries in Asia, Africa and South America.

She said India is being noticed worldwide not just because it is the fastest-growing large economy - this year as well as the coming year - but also because of the way in which it has handled the pandemic and economic revival. Besides, she said while the advanced economies today are looking at a long-drawn recession, central banks in those countries are raising interest rates and dealing with inflation. She stated ‘In such a situation globally, how can economies, particularly emerging market economies, who are all showing good signs of growth...is it possible for us to sustain that growth, is it possible for us to give greater energy to that growth momentum so that emerging markets can literally be the engines of growth and help the global crisis be solved.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18094.10, down by 53.55 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 18050.60 and 18113.80. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 1.80%, ITC up by 0.84%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.76%, Tata Consumer Product up by 0.67% and Divi's Lab up by 0.59%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 1.69%, ONGC down by 1.19%, JSW Steel down by 1.10%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.03% and HCL Technologies down by 1.03% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 89.78 points or 0.57% to 15,546.70, Hang Seng declined 325.3 points or 1.63% to 19,608.51, KOSPI dropped 21.99 points or 0.87% to 2,502.40, Jakarta Composite plunged 77.03 points or 1.14% to 6,786.27 and Straits Times fell 27.64 points or 0.84% to 3,254.35.