Benchmarks slip into negative territory

After trading on cautious note throughout the morning trade, the Sensex and Nifty slipped into negative territory in early afternoon trade as investors turn jittery ahead of the US presidential election. Sentiments remain down-beat with the report that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to maintain a status quo in the upcoming December meet. Furthermore, a report has stated that GST benefits are likely to accrue over time rather than immediately, though in the long run the indirect tax regime will boost growth, lower costs and strengthen tax revenues. It added that it expects over time, as the GST council widens the tax net, minimises the tax slabs and lower the standard tax rates, the benefits will be substantial. Meanwhile, some buying was observed in Auto, Metal and Power stock, while selling was witnessed in FMCG, Capital Goods and Reality counters.  In scrip specific development, Heritage Foods was up by over 2 percent after Kishore Biyani-led Future Retail agreed to acquire its retail business in an all-stock deal.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green on Tuesday on hopes that Hillary Clinton will beat Donald Trump to win today's presidential election in the United States but traders are cautious with many opinion polls saying the race is too close to call. The news that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has been cleared for a second time by the Federal Bureau of Investigation is seen as boosting her chances of emerging victorious on Election Day, which could be positive for stocks.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27431.74, down by 27.25 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 27422.45 and 27600.71. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.25%, while Small cap index was down by 0.15%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.88%, Metal up by 0.47%, Power up by 0.15% and Oil & Gas up by 0.07%, while FMCG down by 0.67%, Capital Goods down by 0.45%, Realty down by 0.40%, Consumer Durables down by 0.21% and PSU down by 0.06% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 5.30%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.04%, Axis Bank up by 0.99%, Power Grid up by 0.98% and Asian Paints up by 0.90%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 3.54%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.83%, Cipla down by 1.47%, Adani Ports &Special down by 1.46% and ITC down by 1.40% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to look beyond trade in defence equipment, India and UK have decided to expand bilateral strategic ties in defence sector. Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited British companies to build partnerships with Indian enterprises that focus on manufacturing, technology transfer and co-development.

Modi has said that in the current global environment both the countries were facing several economic challenges, which directly affects trade and commerce. But he is confident that together they can leverage their scientific strengths and technological prowess to create new opportunities. He also highlighted that bilateral trade has remained at the same level for the past five years and investments in both directions have been robust.

Narendra Modi and UK Prime Minister Theresa May have recognized the potential for cooperation in defence manufacturing between UK and Indian companies in the 'Make in India' framework and agreed to encourage and facilitate such cooperation. The UK will continue their engagement with the Indian Ministry of Defence (MOD) and Indian defence companies to simplify and expedite export controls and to support the transfer of technology to enable projects in areas of mutual interest.

Earlier, the two Prime Ministers also tasked the Defence Consultative Group (DCG) to advance the bilateral defence cooperation agenda, including the UK's proposals for capability partnerships, through a range of activities including military to military cooperation, training, exchange of subject matter experts, research and technology linkages as well as defence manufacturing. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8491.45, down by 5.60 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 8488.35 and 8543.15. There were 24 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 5.49%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 4.96%, BHEL up by 2.55%, Hindalco up by 1.82% and Power Grid Corpn. up by 1.24%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 3.24%, HCL Tech down by 2.10%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.80%, Adani Ports &Special down by 1.64% and Cipla down by 1.58% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index increased 5.8 points or 0.29% to 2,003.38, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 6.87 points or 0.42% to 1,657.46, Shanghai Composite increased 12.15 points or 0.39% to 3,145.49, Taiwan Weighted increased 27.59 points or 0.3% to 9,217.43, Hang Seng increased 55.08 points or 0.24% to 22,856.48 and Jakarta Composite increased 58.58 points or 1.09% to 5,444.79. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 decreased 5.83 points or 0.03% to 17,171.38