Asian stocks are higher today as Chinese and Hong Kong shares show gains. The Shanghai Composite is up 0.1% while the Hang Seng is up 0.4%. The Nikkei 225 is trading up by 0.6%. Equities in the US ended lower in a choppy trading session on Monday, dragged down by technology stocks amid lingering worries over interest rates and corporate earnings.

Back home, India share markets have opened the day on a firm note. The BSE Sensex is trading up by 147 points while the NSE Nifty is trading up by 39 points. The BSE Mid Cap index and BSE Small Cap index both opened the day up by 0.7%.

All sectoral indices are trading in green with realty stocks and consumer durables stocks witnessing maximum buying interest.

The rupee is trading at Rs 73.81 against the US$.

In the news from the economy. India’s trade deficit narrowed to a five-month low at US$13.98 billion in September despite higher oil prices, even as merchandise exports entered negative territory after a gap of six months.

Data released by the commerce ministry showed that exports contracted 2.15% in September while imports grew 10.45% in dollar terms. In rupee terms, however, exports and imports expanded at 9.65% and 23.78%, respectively, mostly because of a sharp depreciation in the rupee.

The trade deficit stood at US$94.32 billion in the first six months. The government downplayed the fall in exports in September, attributing it to the high base effect of September 2017, when exports grew by 25.67% at over US$28 billion. Given the country’s dependence on imported fuels, the elevated crude oil prices and the modest expected impact of the measures initiated so far by the government to reduce the trade deficit, the CAD is now expected to widen significantly to US$75-79 billion or 2.9% of GDP in the current fiscal year, the reports noted.

In another development, Oil prices rose today on signs of falling Iran oil exports ahead of US sanctions against Tehran in November, while geopolitical tensions remain over a missing Saudi journalist.