Benchmarks add losses; Sensex slips below 27950 mark

Indian bourses adding losses, continued to trade in red in the late morning session, with the Sensex losing over 100 points and Nifty falling by 30 points, on emergence of profit-booking by participants at record levels and lower-than-expected earnings posted by some blue-chip companies. Besides, a weak trend at the other Asian markets, after data showed Japan's economy had slipped into recession, too weighed on trading sentiments. However, losses remained capped as Services sector which contributes more than 50% to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) has witnessed its exports rising by 5.3 per cent to $ 12.94 billion in September this year compared to the same month last year.  Some support also came in from reports that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 645.90 crore on November 14, 2014. Besides, the sharp fall in benchmark inflation indices - Wholesale Price Index and Consumer Price Index - are bringing optimism among rate sensitive sectors on hopes that the Reserve Bank of India will either make a token cut or give a dovish outlook in the December policy.

On the sectoral front, stocks from Auto, Infrastructure and Power counters were supporting the markets’ uptrend, while those from Metal, IT and Banking counters were adding to the underlying cautious undertone. In scrip specific development, shares of JSW Engery and Jaiprakash Power Ventures have surged after these companies signed a hydro power deal. On the other hand, shares of Shakti Pumps have declined after reporting a sharp 44% year on year decline in net profit at Rs 3.35 crore for the second quarter ended September 2014, due to lower sales.

On the global front, most of Asian markets declined as Japan's economy unexpectedly slipped into recession in the third quarter, setting the stage for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to delay an unpopular sales tax hike and call a snap election half-way through his term. Back home, Indian rupee strengthened by five paise to 61.67 against the US dollar in early trade on selling of the US currency by exporters and banks amid sustained capital inflows.

The market breadth on BSE was negative, out of 2480 stocks traded, 1235 stocks advanced, while 1176 stocks declined on the BSE.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27936.71 down by 109.95 points or 0.39% after trading in a range of 28052.27 and 27934.72. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.39%, while Small cap index up by 0.30%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.78%, Infrastructure up by 0.50%, Power up by 0.46%, Consumer Durables up by 0.44% and PSU up by 0.28% while, Metal down by 0.89%, IT down by 0.56%, Bankex down by 0.53%, FMCG down by 0.45% and Capital Goods down by 0.38% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 2.83%, SBI up by 2.77%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.13%, NTPC up by 0.94% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.37%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 1.87%, HDFC down by 1.66%, Sun Pharma down by 1.30%, Axis Bank down by 1.14% and ICICI Bank down by 1.14% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the goods and services tax (GST) bill that seemed reaching a conclusion finally may get delayed further, as the Centre is against keeping the threshold limit at Rs 10 lakh for levying GST and wants the committee on dual control to take a final view on the matter after detailed discussions.

Earlier, an empowered committee of state FMs after its meeting has insisted that threshold turnover for levying GST be retained at Rs 10 lakh and petroleum be kept out of the purview of the new tax regime. However, the Centre in its recent communication to the state Finance Ministers has suggested that the meeting of the Committee on Dual Control, Threshold and Exemptions be convened at the earliest for 'detailed discussion and analysis'. It has argued that keeping the threshold limit at Rs 10 lakh would mean that any dealer with a daily turnover of Rs 2,800 would come under the GST net.

Meanwhile, the law ministry has cleared the GST bill brought to it for legal consultation and now the finance ministry will take the proposed constitutional amendment to the Cabinet in the coming week for its approval before it is tabled in the winter session of Parliament. The GST Constitutional Amendment Bill, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha in 2011 had lapsed and the government needs to bring a fresh bill. The proposed GST regime will have dual tax structure where one will be the central component levied by the Centre, called the central GST, and the other to be levied by the states, called the state GST. It will subsume indirect taxes like excise duty and service tax at the central level and VAT on the states front.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8,361.00 down by 28.90 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 8,382.60 and 8,360.55. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 3.15%, SBI up by 3.03%, Asian Paints up by 2.75%, IDFC up by 1.33% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.27%. On the flip side, DLF down by 2.04%, Jindal Steel & Power down by 1.83%, HDFC down by 1.63%, HDFC Bank down by 1.62% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.37% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in the red; Nikkei 225 tumbled by 2.44%, Hang Seng declined by 0.68%, KOSPI Index contracted 0.09%, Straits Times dipped 0.59%, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI slipped 0.14% and Taiwan Weighted was down by 0.95%. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite surged by 0.21% and Shanghai Composite was up by 0.68%.