Benchmarks add losses; Nifty slips below 8250 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 below the 8250 level, as investors might liquidate their holdings to invest in initial public offerings (IPOs) of InterGlobe Aviation and SH Kelkar. Besides, market participants would remain cautious ahead of the corporate results and derivatives expiry, which is on Thursday. Depreciation in Indian rupee too weighed down sentiments. The rupee was marginally down by three paise at 64.99 against the dollar in early trade due to month-end demand for the US currency from importers. However, losses remained capped with the report that State finance ministers are scheduled to meet on November 20 to discuss the model Goods and Services Tax (GST) law as well as the integrated-GST or iGST legislation. Some support also came in from reports that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 724.51 crore on October 26, 2015.

On the global front, Asian stock markets were lower in as investors put money off the table ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's two-day meeting, with Singapore snapping a four-day rising streak and Indonesia retreating after two days of rallies. On Wall Street, the Dow ended on Monday with a minor loss of 0.1%, while the S&P 500 eased 0.2% and the Nasdaq added 0.1%.

Back on street, stocks from Auto counters were supporting the markets’ uptrend, while those from Metal, Consumer Durables and PSU counters were adding to the underlying cautious undertone. In scrip specific development, shares of Den Networks have rallied after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed foreign investors to raise their stake up to 74% in the company. On the other hand, shares of Hitachi Home and Life Solutions have dipped after the company reported disappointing set of numbers with net loss of Rs 11 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 (Q2) against profit of Rs 9 crore in the same quarter year ago.

The market breadth on BSE was negative, out of 2179 stocks traded, 903 stocks advanced, while 1174 stocks declined on the BSE. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27223.93, down by 138.03 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 27209.52 and 27296.30. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.03%, while Small cap index down by 0.13%.

The top losing indices on the BSE were Metal down by 1.28%, Consumer Durables down by 0.70%, PSU down by 0.60%, Oil & Gas down by 0.42%, FMCG down by 0.36%, while Auto up by 0.17% was the only gaining index on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.35%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.85%, Bajaj Auto up by 0.72%, Wipro up by 0.30% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.29%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 3.01%, HDFC down by 2.84%, Lupin down by 2.26%, Vedanta down by 2.20% and Hindalco down by 2.17% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to discuss the model Goods and Services (GST) Tax law, as well as the integrated-GST or iGST legislation the State finance ministers are scheduled to meet on November 20. Recently, the Centre and States have completed the drafting of the model of Goods and Service Tax regulation as well as an integrated GST or iGST regulation. The model GST law and iGST law have been circulated among the states which will be posted in the public domain by early November seeking comments of trade and industry.

As per the draft, the Central GST (CGST) will be framed based on the model GST law. Also, the states will draft their own State GST (SGST) based on the draft model law with minor variation incorporating state-based exemption. Besides, iGST law would deal with inter-state movement of goods and services. However, the government has already put up three reports of empowered committee on GST on refunds, payment process and registration for public comments by October 31.

Besides, another report of a Joint Committee in relation to GST return process has suggested providing monthly filing of returns for business to business dealings through a set of eight forms for different categories of transactions. It has suggested filing of a periodic e-return for CGST, SGST and iGST.

GST Constitution Amendment Bill is waiting nod of Rajya Sabha, where the ruling NDA does not have a majority and is relying on the support of regional parties for its passage, as it requires two-third majority to pass a constitution amendment bill. GST, once rolled out, will include various levies like excise, service tax, sales tax, octroi, etc, and ensure a single indirect tax regime for the entire country.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8221.55, down by 39 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 8217.05 and 8241.95. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 1.42%, Asian Paints up by 1.04%, BPCL up by 0.89%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.88% and Bosch up by 0.73%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 3.24%, HDFC down by 2.86%, Hindalco down by 2.34%, Vedanta down by 2.34% and Lupin down by 2.26% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in red, Hang Seng was down by 0.81%, Nikkei 225 down by 0.78%, Taiwan Weighted down by 0.86%, Jakarta Composite down by 1.09%, Shanghai Composite d down by 1.82%, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI down by 0.55% and KOSPI Index down by 0.52%.