Markets trade in green in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued to trade in green in late afternoon session led by gains in Metal sector’s stocks. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index traded with gains of over a percent. Traders took note of Credit rating agency, Crisil in its latest outlook report ‘Imports widen trade deficit’ has said that the near-term challenge to India’s exports owing to the geopolitical uncertainties seems to have been limited so far but remains a key monitorable. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as China stimulus hopes offset interest-rate worries and mixed data from China. European markets were trading lower dragged by declines in technology and industrials stocks, with investors looking forward to euro zone inflation data for some clarity on the path for interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank beyond June.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73901.65, up by 237.93 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 73459.80 and 74070.84. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 1.13%, while Small cap index was up by 1.26%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.94%, Auto up by 1.78%, Metal up by 1.62%, Consumer Disc up by 1.40% and Basic Materials was up by 1.40%, while IT down by 0.70% and TECK was down by 0.58% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 6.08%, JSW Steel up by 2.34%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.85%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.58% and NTPC up by 1.08%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.35%, Nestle down by 0.88%, Infosys down by 0.79%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.73% and Wipro down by 0.72% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, credit rating agency, Crisil in its latest outlook report ‘Imports widen trade deficit’ has said that the near-term challenge to India’s exports owing to the geopolitical uncertainties seems to have been limited so far but remains a key monitorable. 

The rating agency further noted that barring this hiccup, forecasts of better trade growth this year by key multilateral organisations is encouraging news for the exports. Besides, it underlined that the current account remains in a safe zone with robust services trade surplus and healthy remittances.

Crisil also noted that India’s exports in April recorded positive growth in the face of the ongoing disruptions in global trade routes and uneven global growth. Imports, meanwhile, saw steeper growth, leading to a wider trade deficit.

Meanwhile, India's merchandise exports rose marginally by 1.06 per cent to $34.99 billion in April 2024, as against $34.62 billion during the same period last year. Healthy growth in sectors such as electronics, chemicals, petroleum products and pharmaceuticals has helped in registering positive growth in exports despite global economic uncertainties.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22477.55, up by 73.70 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 22345.65 and 22502.15. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 6.12%, JSW Steel up by 2.43%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.81%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.68% and Grasim Industries up by 1.50%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 1.48%, TCS down by 1.42%, Britannia down by 1.06%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.92% and Nestle down by 0.90% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted added 161.36 points or 0.76% to 21,147.21, Jakarta Composite gained 107.98 points or 1.52% to 7,191.74, Nikkei 225 surged 29.67 points or 0.08% to 38,385.73 and KOSPI was up by 3.13 points or 0.11% to 2,730.34. On the flip side, Straits Times fell 22.28 points or 0.67% to 3,291.07, Shanghai Composite weakened 25.87 points or 0.83% to 3,119.90 and Hang Seng was down by 41.35 points or 0.22% to 19,073.71.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 29.87 points or 0.35% to 8,408.78, France’s CAC fell 42.03 points or 0.51% to 8,146.46 and Germany’s DAX was down by 79.64 points or 0.43% to 18,659.17.