Benchmarks extend losses; trade near intra-day low level

Indian bourses increased losses to continue weak trade in the afternoon session, hovering near the lowest point of the day due to selling in frontline blue chip stocks such as HDFC, TCS and Power Grid Corpn among other. Sentiments remained down-beat after services sector contracted in November that too at sharpest rate in three years, as new orders fell for the first time since June 2015. Domestic sentiment was also hit after the latest U.S. jobs data added to expectations of a rate hike this month and Italian voters rejected a constitutional reform proposal Prime Minister Matteo Renzi had eagerly supported. Meanwhile, for the third time in a month, the Goods and Services Tax Council, chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, failed to reach an agreement on the contentious issue of dual control. Though, the GST council discussed draft laws needed to facilitate rollout of the tax reform but progress on finalising them was limited, therefore the council is scheduled again to meet on December 11 and 12. In scrip specific development, GTL Infrastructure rose on reports that IDFC is looking to pick up a controlling stake in the telecom tower operator.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red amid worries about political and economic instability in Europe after Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said that he will resign following his defeat in a constitutional reform referendum on Sunday. Meanwhile, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key also unexpectedly announced his resignation on Monday.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26149.18, down by 81.48 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 26125.35 and 26273.29. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.06%, while Small cap index was down by 0.13%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.79% and FMCG up by 0.53%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.10%, IT down by 1.05%, TECK down by 0.81%, Realty down by 0.71% and Power down by 0.51% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Lupin up by 2.61%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.87%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.76%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.29% and Asian Paints up by 1.28%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 2.42%, TCS down by 2.04%, Power Grid Corpn. down by 1.47%, Wipro down by 1.27% and Coal India down by 1.01% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Modi government's quest towards less use of cash in transactions post-demonetisation has got the Niti Aayog’s push, which is providing financial support to incentivise the district administration to reach out to the general public and small traders in villages and talukas, and encourage them to shift to cashless payments.

As per the government think tank’s plan, an incentive of Rs 10 will be given to the district administration for every individual who has shifted to digital payment mode and has made at least two digital transactions for day-to-day activities, like selling and buying goods or services through any of the five methods, unified payment interface (UPI), Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), Aadhaar Enabled Payments, e-wallets and Rupay debit/credit/prepaid cards.

It has also asked district magistrates to ensure that financial transactions in the district and subordinate organisations are cashless and on e-platforms. The Aayog has already given up to Rs 5 lakh to every district to kick-start the process, right from the panchayat level. An incentive of Rs 100 will be provided to common services centre operators for every merchant transacting digitally and Rs 5 for every citizen shifting to digital payments.

The first 50 panchayats to go cashless will be given the 'digital payment award of honour' by Niti Aayog. Also, the top 10 best performing districts will be given the 'digital payment champions award' by the Niti Aayog.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8063.50, down by 23.30 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 8056.85 and 8103.30. There were 21 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Lupin up by 2.56%, Bosch up by 2.04%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.95%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.93% and Asian Paints up by 1.45%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 2.37%, Grasim Industries down by 2.09%, TCS down by 1.97%, Zee Entertainment down by 1.94% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.85% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 164.72 points or 0.73% to 22,400.10, Nikkei 225 decreased 151.09 points or 0.82% to 18,274.99, Shanghai Composite decreased 41.95 points or 1.29% to 3,201.89, Taiwan Weighted decreased 28.83 points or 0.31% to 9,160.66, KOSPI Index decreased 7.25 points or 0.37% to 1,963.36 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 0.22 points or 0.01% to 1,628.74. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite increased 21.76 points or 0.41% to 5,267.71.