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Weak trade prevails in morning session
Apr-19-2024

Indian equity benchmarks continued their weak trade in morning session on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters taking cues from global sell-off. Sentiments remained pessimistic as provisional data from the NSE showed foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 4,260.33 crore on April 18. Traders remained cautious with report stating that India's trade deficit with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has surged, more than doubling since the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in 2010. According to figures released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India's exports to ASEAN member countries stood at $25,627.89 million in the year 2010-11, while imports from these nations amounted to $30,607.96 million. However, the report said the situation has deteriorated significantly over the past decade, with the deficit expanding at an alarming rate. Traders paid no heed towards India's Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth to World Bank stated that despite a challenging global scenario, India's economy has shown robust growth over the past year backed by sustained consumption and investment demand. On the global front, Asian markets are trading lower as U.S. rate worries lingered and oil prices jumped more than 3 percent on signs of escalating tensions in the Middle East, following reports of Israeli strikes on Iran. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 72081.38, down by 407.61 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 71816.46 and 72216.97. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 1.03%, while Small cap index was down by 0.73%.

The lone gaining sectoral indices on the BSE was FMCG up by 0.03%, while Realty down by 1.55%, Auto down by 1.23%, Utilities down by 1.20%, Power down by 1.09% and IT down by 1.08% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 1.25%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.54%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.48%, HDFC Bank up by 0.42% and Tata Steel up by 0.19%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 2.29%, Tata Motors down by 2.05%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.70%, Asian Paints down by 1.47% and Indusind Bank down by 1.41% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, rating agency ICRA has said that the volumes of domestic mining and the construction equipment (MCE) industry may drop in the current financial year (FY25) on account of a slowdown in the new project orders amidst Lok Sabha elections and monsoon-related impact on construction activities. ICRA expects FY2025 to see a 12-15 per cent year-on-year decline (which translates into volumes of 114,000-118,000 units).
This drop is following two consecutive years of strong growth of 26 per cent in FY23 and 24 per cent in FY24. The reversal in this growth trend will be driven by a slowdown in the new project award activity in Q4 FY24 and Q1 FY25, as the Model Code of Conduct will remain in force during the Parliamentary Elections in April-May 2024 (till the announcement of results on June 4, 2024).

Additionally, the aggregate revenues for ICRA's sample set companies are expected to contract by 9-12 per cent and operating margins by 100-150 basis points in FY2025. The re-election push by the government on project execution led to a strong demand momentum for the domestic mining and construction industry in the last two years. Ritu Goswami, Sector Head, Corporate Ratings, ICRA said ‘with a likely disruption in project award activity for two consecutive quarters -- in the fourth quarter of FY24 and first quarter of FY25, amidst the Lok Sabha elections and monsoon-related impact on construction activities in the second quarter, the first half of FY25 is likely to see a moderation in sales.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21856.80, down by 139.05 points or 0.63% after trading in a range of 21777.65 and 21902.80. There were 11 stocks advancing against 39 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ITC up by 1.18%, Apollo Hospital up by 0.98%, ONGC up by 0.89%, Grasim Industries up by 0.75% and Hindustan Unilever up by 0.55%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 3.42%, BPCL down by 2.54%, Axis Bank down by 2.28%, Tata Motors down by 2.16% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.80% were the top losers.

All Asian markets are trading lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 994.51 points or 2.61% to 37,085.19, Taiwan Weighted lost 635.22 points or 3.13% to 19,665.98, Hang Seng declined 201.85 points or 1.25% to 16,184.02, Straits Times fell 18.77 points or 0.59% to 3,168.89, KOSPI dropped 43.42 points or 1.65% to 2,591.28, Jakarta Composite plunged 103.71 points or 1.47% to 7,063.10 and Shanghai Composite weakened 12.22 points or 0.4% to 3,062.00.
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