Benchmarks make somber start ahead of GST debate

Indian equity benchmarks have made a somber start and are trading in red in early deals, with frontline gauges breaching their crucial 27,800 (Sensex) and 8,600 (Nifty) levels on weak global cues. Traders opted to stay away of piling up positions in risky assets ahead of the debate on the Goods and Services Tax Bill in the Rajya Sabha later today. Though, the government and the opposition have reached out at a broad understanding but the government is likely to come up with fresh proposals over pending Congress demands on the GST Bill to get the opposition party’s support.

Weakness in Asian markets too dampened sentiments with all the regional peers, barring Chinese Shanghai, which was trading in red at this point of time, as the oil sell-off continued, reviving concerns over global growth and after Japan’s fiscal stimulus package fell short of expectation.

Back home, banking shares too remained under pressure after global rating agency S&P said that banks in India and China will continue to face pressures on their asset quality, profitability, and capitalization over the next 12-24 months.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27795.57, down by 186.14 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 27760.28 and 28015.43. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.70%, while Small cap index was down by 0.67%.

The lone gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Metal up by 0.25%, while FMCG down by 1.40%, Power down by 1.14%, Realty down by 0.95%, Finance down by 0.56% and Healthcare down by 0.52% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Coal India up by 0.97%, Cipla up by 0.94%, Asian Paints up by 0.61%, ICICI Bank up by 0.55% and Wipro up by 0.54%. On the flip side, ITC down by 2.34%, Power Grid down by 2.32%, HDFC down by 1.56%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.02% and NTPC down by 0.97% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government has collected Rs 69,809 crore through cess imposed on petrol and diesel in the last financial year. Of total, Rs 17,217 crore collected through cess on Motor Spirit (Petrol) and Rs 52,592 crore on High Speed Diesel Oil.

Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar replying to a query in Rajya Sabha said that the impact of direct tax incentives that is Corporate Income Tax and Personal Income Tax on account of exemptions in last financial year stood at Rs 1,28,639 crore. Besides, the impact of indirect tax exemptions that is Customs duty and Excise Duty on account of exemptions of 2015-16 is estimated at Rs 4,82,489 crore.

An additional excise duty is levied and collected on petrol and diesel under section 111 of Finance (No 2) Act 1998 and section 133 of Finance Act 1999 respectively. These levies are deemed to be a cess for the purpose of the Central Road Fund Act, 2000.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8570.85, down by 52.05 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 8564.30 and 8635.45. There were 19 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Tech up by 4.31%, Bharti Infratel up by 1.21%, Cipla up by 1.10%, Coal India up by 1.05% and Idea Cellular up by 0.87%. On the flip side, ITC down by 2.80%, Power Grid down by 2.49%, HDFC down by 1.67%, Aurobindo Pharma down by 1.44% and NTPC down by 1.29% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in red; Hang Seng declined 377.13 points or 1.7% to 21,752.01, Nikkei 225 dropped 255.87 points or 1.56% to 16,135.58, Taiwan Weighted decreased 63.16 points or 0.7% to 9,005.60, KOSPI Index shed 17.27 points or 0.86% to 2,001.76, Jakarta Composite slipped 10.1 points or 0.19% to 5,363.23 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 8.16 points or 0.49% to 1,652.07.