Markets continue to move in tight range lacking any supportive cues

Markets continue to trade in red, though the selling has subsided and the benchmarks are moving in a narrow range. Weak economic data coupled with the fear of rise in inflation with the surge in crude prices after OPEC and non-OPEC producers on Saturday reached their first deal since 2001 to curtail oil output jointly and ease a global glut, was weighing down the sentiments. All the attempts of recovery were facing strong resistance, lacking any supportive cues, with the Asian peers too remaining mostly in red. Traders were unable to get any respite with government data showing robust growth in November tax collection. While, Direct Tax Collections up to November, 2016 showed growth of 15.12% led by increase in personal income tax; the Indirect tax collections (Central Excise, Service Tax and Customs) was up by 26.2% in the April-November period compared to the corresponding period last year. Back on street, not only the benchmarks but the broader markets too were showing weakness of similar magnititude, down by around half a percent. On the sectoral front, barring some gain in utilities and energy all the indices were showing weakness. The banking pack was under pressure after the government asked all public sector banks to strictly maintain record of deposits made through both old Rs 500/1,000 notes and other valid currencies.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26623.38, down by 123.80 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 26576.80 and 26725.31. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices too were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.63%, while Small cap index was lower by 0.21%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.28%, PSU up by 0.24%, Power up by 0.20%, Capital Goods up by 0.16% and Realty up by 0.06%, while Auto down by 1.04%, FMCG down by 0.89%, Bankex down by 0.83%, TECK down by 0.67% and IT down by 0.65% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 1.73%, NTPC up by 1.65%, Reliance Industries up by 1.27%, Sun Pharma up by 1.11% and Coal India up by 0.73%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 2.27%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.84%, Tata Motors down by 1.58%, Infosys down by 1.45% and Hero MotoCorp down by 1.44% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the sixth meeting of the all-powerful Goods and Services Tax Council called by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to sort out contentious issue of dual control of assesses, remained inconclusive and has been re-scheduled on December 22 and 23, raising apprehension of missing the April 1 target of the final GST rollout.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the discussion on the Integrated GST (IGST) law is expected to happen in the next meeting of the Council along with that of deciding on the jurisdiction over assessees. He expressed hopes that in the next 2-Day GST Council meeting they would be able to clear draft legislation for Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST), Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) and compensation law after which these will be introduced in Parliament. Jaitley also noted that there are about 195 sections in the draft legislation, so it is the core bill of the legislation. He also said that they have discussed 99 sections and a few clauses need to be redrafted and would change that during the course of time. Kerala FM Thomas Isaac said demonetisation has eroded states trust. 'April 1 deadline is out of picture, GST can be rolled out only by September'.

The council’s two-day meeting commenced in the shadow of the November 8 demonetisation, whose fallout has put a serious question mark on implementing GST by the central government’s targeted deadline of April 1, next year. Last month, the GST Council agreed on a four-slab structure - 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent along with a cess on luxury and ‘sin’ goods such as tobacco. GST is a singular tax reform that will remove barriers across states and integrate the country into a common market.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8211.55, down by 50.20 points or 0.61% after trading in a range of 8195.35 and 8230.65. There were 13 stocks advancing against 37 stocks declining on the index, while one stock remained unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 1.86%, ONGC up by 1.74%, Reliance Industries up by 1.18%, Sun Pharma up by 1.13% and Coal India up by 0.91%. On the flip side, Grasim Industries down by 2.40%, Asian Paints down by 2.27%, BPCL down by 2.13%, Ambuja Cement down by 1.97% and Bajaj Auto down by 1.92% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Hang Seng slumped by 216.56 points or 0.95% to 22,544.42, Shanghai Composite was down by 68.84 points or 2.13% to 3,164.05, Taiwan Weighted lost 42.74 points or 0.46% to 9,349.94, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined by 2.33 points or 0.14% to 1,641.42. On the other hand, KOSPI Index increased by 2.55 points or 0.13% to 2,027.24 and Nikkei 225 surged by 158.66 points or 0.84% to 19,155.03.