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Indian equity benchmarks snapped a two-day winning run and ended over half percent lower on Tuesday amid cautious gains across most global markets. Investor focus returned to the Russia-Ukraine war and rising oil prices. Markets made a cautious start and soon slipped into red as traders got anxious with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in its latest data has stated that India's trade deficit rose 87.5 per cent to $192.41 billion in 2021-22 as against $102.63 billion in the previous year. The trade deficit in March 2022 was $18.69 billion. It showed that while total exports during last fiscal year increased to a record high of $417.81 billion, imports too soared to $610.22 billion, leaving a trade gap of $192.41 billion. Some concern also came as a private report stated that petrol and diesel prices have been hiked by 80 paise a litre each on April 05, taking the total increase in the last two weeks to Rs 9.20 per litre.

However, markets erased all the losses and were trading marginally higher in afternoon deals, as traders took some support with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman’s statement that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) staying in the country and creating jobs and prospects, and not the outflow of Foreign Institute Investors (FIIs) and Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs), should be assessed to measure robustness of the Indian economy. Some support also came with a report that the government is committed to supplying fertilisers at affordable prices to farmers with required subsidies despite rising international market rates due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, huge procurements by China and other global factors, which may push the annual fertiliser subsidy to up to Rs 2 lakh crore in the current financial year. But, buying proved short-lived as markets once again fell into negative terrain in late afternoon deals, as some pessimism remained among traders with a private report stating that Indian manufacturers are running out of capacity to absorb rising input costs, with an increasing number passing it along to consumers in an economy already grappling with Asia’s third-fastest inflation and an uneven recovery.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly higher on Tuesday though regional gains remained capped by talk of more sanctions against Russia and rising prices of important commodities, including crude oil. Trading volumes were thin due to public holidays in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Investors also awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve's minutes from its March meeting, set to be released on Wednesday, and the Bank of Korea's rate-setting meeting scheduled for next week, for clues on rate outlook. European markets were trading lower as the European Union and the United States mull further sanctions against Russia following reports of war crimes. However, Eurozone PMI data pointed to a strong expansion in private sector activity in March, helped by robust growth across services.

Back home, stocks related to banking sector were in watch as rating agency ICRA’s report stated that the asset quality of the Indian banking system is set to improve further with its gross non-performing assets (NPAs) estimated to decline to 5.6-5.7 per cent by March 2023 from 6.2-6.3 per cent in March 2022. There were some buzz in the sugar industry’s stocks as industry body ISMA said India’s sugar export may touch 85 lakh tonne in the ongoing 2021-22 marketing year ending September. It added while the country has contracted 72 lakh tonne of sugar export, the physical exports have been around 56-57 lakh tonne till March-end this year.

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 435.24 points or 0.72% to 60,176.50 and the CNX Nifty was down by 96.00 points or 0.53% to 17,957.40.       

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 60,786.07 and 60,067.18, respectively. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.  

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.28%, while Small cap index was up by 1.37%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 3.38%, Utilities up by 3.34%, Consumer Durables up by 2.51%, Industrials up by 1.71%, FMCG up by 1.26%, while Bankex down by 1.33%, Finance down by 1.25%, Realty down by 0.16% and TECK down by 0.15% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 3.40%, Power Grid Corporation up by 2.48%, ITC up by 1.63%, Titan Company up by 1.38% and TCS up by 1.17%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 2.98%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.14%, HDFC down by 2.12%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.05% and Reliance Industries down by 1.41% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in its latest data has stated that India's trade deficit rose 87.5 per cent to $192.41 billion in 2021-22 as against $102.63 billion in the previous year. The trade deficit in March 2022 was $18.69 billion. It showed that while total exports during last fiscal year increased to a record high of $417.81 billion, imports too soared to $610.22 billion, leaving a trade gap of $192.41 billion.

For the first time, India's monthly merchandise exports exceeded $40 billion, reaching $40.38 billion in March 2022, an increase of 14.53 per cent over $35.26 billion in the year-ago month. It was up by 87.89 per cent over $21.49 billion in March 2020. It said the country's merchandise import last month stood at $59.07 billion, an increase of 20.79 per cent over $48.90 billion in the year-ago period. It was up 87.68 per cent over $31.47 billion in March 2020.

Besides, it mentioned that during March 2022, the value of non-petroleum exports stood at $33 billion, registering a growth of 4.28 per cent over $31.65 billion in the same month a year ago. Non-petroleum exports grew by 74 per cent from $18.97 billion in March 2020. Non-petroleum import stood at $40.66 billion during March 2022, showing a rise of 5.26 per cent over $38.63 billion in the year-ago month. It was up by 89.79 per cent from $21.42 billion in March 2020.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 18,095.45 and 17,921.55. There were 25 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.    

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports &SEZ up by 3.12%, NTPC up by 2.84%, Tata Motors up by 2.36%, Power Grid Corporation up by 2.20% and Tata Consumer Product up by 2.02%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 3.13%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.36%, HDFC down by 2.17%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.13% and Indusind Bank down by 1.82% were the top losers.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 15.50 points or 0.21% to 7,543.42, France’s CAC decreased 84.47 points or 1.25% to 6,646.90 and Germany’s DAX decreased 69.62 points or 0.48% to 14,448.54.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Tuesday tracking strength in Wall Street's tech sector overnight after Elon Musk disclosed that he bought a chunk of Twitter Inc. stock, while trading volumes were thin due to public holidays in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Investors are awaiting the US Federal Reserve's minutes from its March meeting, set to be released on Wednesday. Japanese shares gained marginally, supported by improved services and household spending data. However, some gains were limited by talks of more sanctions against Russia and rising crude oil prices.

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