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Weak trade persisted over the Dalal Street in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty trading in red, on the back of negative cues from other Asian markets. Traders got cautious, as Fitch Ratings said that India's external finances are becoming 'less of a strength' but continue to be sufficient to cushion risks emanating from abroad. The comments by Fitch, which rates India at BBB-with a stable outlook, come amid a sharp decline in the country's foreign exchange reserves, which have been deployed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to stem a rapid fall in the rupee. The street were seen taking a note of report stating that with levels of poverty, inflation and hunger notwithstanding, India ranks third in the world's first-ever global study on the rise of centi-millionaires -- individuals with assets of more than Rs 830 crore ($100 million).

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, as Japan posted a merchandise trade deficit of 2.094 trillion yen in September. That exceeded expectations for a shortfall of 2.167 trillion yen following the downwardly revised 2.820 trillion yen deficit in August (originally -2.817 trillion yen). Exports climbed 28,9 percent to 8.818 trillion yen, topping forecasts for an increase of 27.1 percent following the downwardly revised 22.0 percent gain in the previous month (originally 22.1 percent).

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59044.93, down by 62.26 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 58791.28 and 59090.40. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index down by 0.73%, while Small cap index was down by 0.15%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were TECK up by 0.92%, IT up by 0.91%, Telecom up by 0.55%, Oil & Gas up by 0.51% and Energy up by 0.41%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.30%, Bankex down by 0.84%, Auto down by 0.79%, Realty down by 0.70% and Capital Goods down by 0.30% were the top losing sectoral indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Tech. up by 1.97%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.31%, Wipro up by 1.11%, Nestle up by 1.06% and Infosys up by 1.01%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 3.68%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.46%, Titan Co down by 1.23%, Axis Bank down by 0.95% and HDFC down by 0.90% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance has released an amount of Rs 1,764 crore to 4 States for providing grants to Million Plus Cities/Urban Agglomerations.  The States to which grants were released are Andhra Pradesh (Rs 136 crore), Chhattisgarh (Rs 109 crore), Maharashtra (Rs 799 crore) and Uttar Pradesh (Rs 720 crore).

The grants released are meant for Million Plus Cities/ Urban Agglomerations (MPC/UAs) of Vijayawada & Visakhapatnam in the State of Andhra Pradesh, Durg Bhilainagar & Raipur in the State of Chhattisgarh, Aurangabad, Greater Mumbai, Nagpur  Nashik, Pune & Vasai-Virar City in the State of Maharashtra and Agra, Allahabad, Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut & Varanasi in the State of Uttar Pradesh. 

So far, a total grant of Rs 4,761.8 crore has been released to urban local bodies in FY 2022-23, where Andhra Pradesh received Rs 293.75 crore, Chhattisgarh (Rs 307.20 crore), Gujarat (Rs 20.21 crore), Haryana (Rs 77.40 crore), Himachal Pradesh (Rs 78.00 crore), Kerala (Rs 256.00 crore), Madhya Pradesh (Rs 314.10 crore) and Maharashtra (Rs 840.34 crore).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17503.95, down by 8.30 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 17421.00 and 17518.45. There were 26 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were UPL up by 2.30%, HCL Tech. up by 1.94%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.34%, Nestle up by 1.21% and Wipro up by 1.12%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 3.68%, Apollo Hospital Ent. down by 1.55%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.46%, Titan Co down by 1.23% and Axis Bank down by 0.98% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; KOSPI fell 19.35 points or 0.86% to 2,218.09 Straits Times trembled 1.30 points or 0.04% to 3,021.50, Shanghai Composite declined 8.31 points or 0.27% to 3,036.07, Taiwan Weighted dropped 30.66 points or 0.24% to 12,946.10, Nikkei 225 slipped 250.42 points or 0.92% to 27,006.96 and Hang Seng decreased 304.87 points or 1.85% to 16,206.41, while Jakarta Composite soared 101.86 points or 1.48% to 6,962.28.

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