Markets remains in red, trade range bound

Markets seems to have acquired a range, recovering from their morning fall, though still there was no sign of major bourses moving into green anytime soon, as both the benchmark indices were down by around half a percent in noon trade. Most of the sectoral indices were in red, while the broader indices were suffering deeper cuts. Markets were taking a breather after rallying to a fresh record high in the previous session, weighed down by losses in metal, oil & gas, realty and banking stocks. The early enthusiasm generated by report that US investors have been moving money into exchange-traded funds that focus solely on India, backed by the optimism about India's economy and booming stock market, have faded and traders were largely concentrating on domestic developments with the chance of government’s plan to get important legislations passed in the winter session of Parliament could run into trouble, as opposition was getting united. Meanwhile, deadline of submitting report by select committee of Rajya Sabha on Insurance, which was expected to submit its recommendations early enough for the government to get parliamentary approval, has been extended till December 12 from November 28th.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28355.48, down by 144.06 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 28311.32 and 28541.22. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.92%, while Small cap index plunged by 2.43%.

The lone gaining sectoral index on the BSE was FMCG up by 0.41%, while Realty down by 3.60%, Metal down by 2.21%, Power down by 1.93%, Consumer Durables down by 1.90%, INFRA down by 1.89% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 1.77%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.17%, HDFC up by 1.13%, ITC up by 0.68% and Infosys up by 0.58%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 3.14%, ICICI Bank down by 2.21%, Hindalco down by 2.14%, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.07% and Axis Bank down by 2.05% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government is confident of getting the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Constitutional Amendment Bill passed in the ongoing winter session of Parliament.  Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha has asserted that there are three challenges associated with the implementation of GST, which includes the revenue neutral rate and keeping petroleum, liquor out of the ambit. Despite these challenges, the government is working very hard to pass the bill in current session so that the new tax regime could be rolled out by April 1, 2016.

The GST rollout has missed several deadlines because of lack of consensus among states over certain crucial issues on the new tax regime. States have been demanding that petroleum, alcohol and tobacco should be kept out of the purview of GST.

The proposed GST is one of the biggest taxation reforms in India and will replace existing state and federal levies such as excise duty, service tax and value-added tax (VAT) and will integrate State economies and boost overall growth. Under GST, the taxation burden will be divided equitably between manufacturing and services, through a lower tax rate by increasing the tax base and minimizing exemptions. The industry is awaiting its introduction, as GST would boost revenues and aid economic growth.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8466.00, down by 64.15 points or 0.75% after trading in a range of 8455.70 and 8535.35. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BHEL up by 2.02%, Zee Entertainment up by 1.99%, HDFC up by 1.07%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.99%, ITC up by 0.64%. On the flip side DLF down by 4.31%, Power Grid Corpn down by 3.65%, NMDC down by 3.36%, Tata Steel down by 3.12% and IDFC down by 2.82% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mixed, KOSPI Index gained 1.67 points or 0.08% to 1,980.21, Straits Times was up by 3.35 points or 0.1% to 3,343.88, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was higher by 7.85 points or 0.43% to 1,841.62, Shanghai Composite increased 32.48 points or 1.28% to 2,565.36 and Nikkei 225 was higher by 50.11 points or 0.29% to 17,407.62.

On the other hand, Hang Seng declined by 28.8 points or 0.12% to 23,864.34, Jakarta Composite was lower by 8.49 points or 0.17% to 5,133.28 and Taiwan Weighted lost 6.09 points or 0.07% to 9,116.24.