Benchmarks trade marginally lower in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks were trading marginally lower in morning deals, as investors preferred to stay on the sidelines ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's interest rate decision. Foreign fund outflows and weak trends in the US equities also dented sentiments in markets. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 700.98 crore on Monday, according to exchange data. Some concern came with report that India's monsoon onset over the southernmost Kerala coast is delayed by another two-three days because the formation of cyclonic circulation in the Arabian Sea has reduced cloud cover over the Kerala coast. However, losses remain capped as traders took some support with private report said that India's GDP growth will track above 6 per cent in the next two financial years, supported by strength in domestic demand. It pegged growth for 2023-24 and 2024-25 at 6.2 per cent and 6.5 per cent, respectively. On the global front, Asian markets are trading higher as traders look ahead to next week's US Federal Reserve meeting, where the Fed is widely expected to pause its recent series of interest rate hikes. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 62699.06, down by 88.41 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 62666.85 and 62851.55. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.11%, while Small cap index was up by 0.17%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.64%, Realty up by 0.42%, Industrials up by 0.35%, Consumer Durables up by 0.33% and Capital Goods up by 0.31%, while IT down by 1.81%, TECK down by 1.65%, Metal down by 0.37%, FMCG down by 0.06% and Telecom down by 0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 1.82%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.58%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.99%, Asian Paints up by 0.97% and Titan Company up by 0.88%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.71%, Infosys down by 1.98%, HCL Technologies down by 1.69%, TCS down by 1.46% and Wipro down by 1.43% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Indian Ports Association (IPA) has said cargo traffic handled by major ports in the country witnessed an annual rise of 3.2 per cent to 68.06 million tons (MT) in May this year. These ports had handled a total of 65.94-million tons in May 2022. There are 12 major ports, -- Deendayal (Kandla), Mumbai, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Ennore (Kamarajar), Tuticorin (V O Chidambaranar), Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia) and Jawaharlal Nehru Port. 

It stated that of these, eight ports witnessed a surge in the cargo traffic handled by them during the previous month while the remaining four saw cargo traffic at their facilities declining on a year-on-year basis in May. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (SMP), Kolkata Port (Including Haldia) registered the maximum cargo growth at 10.01 year-on-year in May, followed by Visakhapatnam Port at 9.61 per cent and Mormugao Port at 9.43 per cent and Paradip Port at 7.77 per cent. 

Besides, Paradip Port with 7.77 per cent, JNPA with 7.13 per cent, Cochin Port with 6.86 per cent, New Mangalore Port with 3.88 per cent and Mumbai Port with 0.77 per cent also logged positive growth during May 2023, as against a year ago. On the other hand, the negative growth was witnessed at Kamarajar Port, Deendayal Port, Chennai Port and V O Chidambaranar Port with cargo traffic at Kamarajar seeing the highest fall of 8.75 per cent during the reporting month, as compared to May 2022.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18571.50, down by 22.35 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 18565.35 and 18618.05. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 1.82%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.50%, Divi's Lab up by 1.20%, Grasim Industries up by 1.03% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.02%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.79%, Infosys down by 1.97%, HCL Technologies down by 1.72%, TCS down by 1.48% and Wipro down by 1.45% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading higher; Taiwan Weighted added 21.75 points or 0.13% to 16,736.18, Hang Seng advanced 98.13 points or 0.51% to 19,206.63, Shanghai Composite strengthened 1.54 points or 0.05% to 3,233.98, Jakarta Composite gained 33.41 points or 0.5% to 6,666.85, Straits Times rose 1.22 points or 0.04% to 3,190.23 and Nikkei 225 surged 237.53 points or 0.74% to 32,454.96.