Benchmarks extend losses; Capital Goods, Metal drag

Indian equity markets extend their losses in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters. The markets were under pressure on selling by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) and on worries of crucial Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Land Bill not getting through in the current session of Parliament after being referred to select panel. Investors have started eyeing Industrial production figures for the month of March and Retail inflation data for the month of April which is scheduled to release today. Traders were seen selling in Capital Goods, Metal and Power sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Adani Power was trading in red after the company reported 71.72 percent plunge in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended March 2015.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mixed while the European markets were trading on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 8,150 and 27,000 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1758:971 while 102 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26948.92, down by 558.38 points or 2.03% after trading in a range of 26927.82 and 27502.91. There were 3 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.45%, while Small cap index down by 1.41%.

The losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods down by 2.83%, Metal down by 2.82%, Power down by 2.81%, Bankex down by 2.65% and Oil & Gas down by 2.48%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hero MotoCorp up by 4.11%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 3.15% and Cipla up by 0.66%.

On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 5.67%, Vedanta down by 5.07%, BHEL down by 4.11%, ICICI Bank down by 3.76% and Tata Power down by 3.23% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, after passing the Constitution Amendment Bill for Goods And Services Tax (GST) in the lower House last week, the NDA government successfully pushed through the undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets Bill, 2015 to unearth black money stash overseas, in Lok Sabha.Under the proposed law, there would be a short compliance window within which people with undisclosed income abroad can come clean by paying 30% tax and 30% penalty. A time-frame will be provided as a compliance window.

However, for those who refuse to do so, the bill has provisions for rigorous punishment, including a jail term of 3-10 years. Besides, failure to meet the compliance timeline will attract an additional penalty of 90% for a total tax liability of 120% on the quantum of black money abroad. Reports suggest that there could be a two-month window to declare overseas assets and income and a six-month period to pay tax and penalty.

Once passed, the law would help the government in bringing black money in the declared economy, improving tax collections and eventually facilitating lowering of tax rates. Further, in a bid to ensure its easier and swifter clearance in the Rajya Sabha, the government has decided to keep the Bill outside the Income Tax (IT) Act and is treating it as Money Bill.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8147.35, down by 177.90 points or 2.14% after trading in a range of 8137.60 and 8326.65. There were 3 stocks advancing against 47 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hero MotoCorp up by 4.23%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 3.36%, Cipla up by 0.71%.

On the flip side, Bank of Baroda down by 5.72%, Tata Steel down by 5.66%, Vedanta down by 5.30%, Cairn India down by 4.64% and BHEL down by 4.18% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 increased 3.93 points or 0.02% to 19,624.84, Taiwan Weighted increased 17.01 points or 0.18% to 9,680.73, Jakarta Composite increased 37.8 points or 0.73% to 5,210.29 and Shanghai Composite increased 67.64 points or 1.56% to 4,401.22. On the other hand, Hang Seng decreased 311.02 points or 1.12% to 27,407.18, Straits Times decreased 28.1 points or 0.81% to 3,442.70, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 7.11 points or 0.39% to 1,798.38 and KOSPI Index decreased 0.61 points or 0.03% to 2,096.77.

The European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 231.93 points or 1.99% to 11,441.42, France’s CAC decreased 86.19 points or 1.71% to 4,941.68 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 84.86 points or 1.21% to 6,944.99.