Indian stock markets remain under pressure; Nifty below 9250 mark

Indian benchmark indices continue to reel under pressure and are trading in negative terrain in the early noon session, as investors remained cautious after the United States launched cruise missiles against an air base in Syria, raising the risk of confrontation with Syrian backers Russia and Iran. Facing his biggest foreign policy crisis since taking office in January, Trump took the toughest direct U.S. action yet in Syria's six-year-old civil war. On the domestic front, sentiments were undermined as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) projected retail inflation to increase to 5% in the second half of the current fiscal citing risks of El Nino impacting the monsoon and one-off effects of the Goods and Services Tax. The central bank also said that a prominent risk could emanate from managing the implementation of the allowances recommended by the 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC). However, downside remained capped with the Rajya Sabha passing four supplementary legislations which will enable the government to rollout the landmark Goods and Services Tax Bill on July 1. Also, the Lok Sabha passed a bill which will ensure continuance of levy of excise on petroleum products and abolition of cess on some other items following GST rollout from July 1. Some support also came with finance minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that once the new regime is implemented harassment of businesses by different authorities will end, and India will have one rate for one commodity throughout the country.

On the global front, Asian markets trading mostly lower on Friday, following news that the US has launched cruise missile attacks against Syria in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack by Bashar al-Assad's regime that killed scores of civilians earlier in the week. Safe-haven assets such as the yen and gold as well as crude oil prices rallied in response to the news. Investors also remained cautious ahead of U.S. non-farm payroll data for March later in the session, with economists forecasting a significant drop in job gains from February. Meanwhile, Wall Street's major indexes had closed slightly higher on Thursday but finished well off session highs as investors were nervous about upcoming talks between China's President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump.

Back home, stocks from Telecom, Capital Goods and Oil & Gas counters were supporting the markets, while those from Healthcare, Consumer Durables and Energy counters were adding to the underlying cautious undertone. In scrip specific development, Ashoka Buildcon gained after the company received Letter of Award (LoA) from Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) for combined land parcels in Mumbai.

The market breadth remained optimistic, as there were 1419 shares on the gaining side against 1106 shares on the losing side, while 120 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29830.93, down by 96.41 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 29763.02 and 29883.98. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.20%, while Small cap index up by 0.35%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.56%, Capital Goods up by 0.97%, Oil & Gas up by 0.59%, Realty up by 0.50% and Industrials up by 0.50%, while Healthcare down by 0.65%, Consumer Durables down by 0.31%, Energy down by 0.29%, FMCG down by 0.26% and Metal down by 0.23% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.20%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.85%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.09%, GAIL India up by 0.80% and NTPC up by 0.63%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.16%, Reliance Industries down by 1.49%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.29%, Coal India down by 1.27% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.17% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, paving way for the rollout of the much-awaited Goods and Services Tax (GST) from July 1, the Rajya Sabha has approved four supplementary GST legislations- the Central GST Bill, the Integrated GST Bill, the GST (Compensation to States) Bill and the Union Territory GST Bill, without any amendments. The bills were returned by the Rajya Sabha after negation of a host of amendments moved by the opposition parties. These bills will now be presented before the President for his consent, following which, all the states will have to pass the States GST Bill after that the new indirect tax regime can be rolled out.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley participating in the debate insisted that the GST, which will usher in a uniform indirect tax regime in the country, will not lead to inflation as apprehended by some sections. He also said the successive governments have contributed towards the GST and no one person can take credit for it. With implementation of the GST, revenue of the Centre, the states and the industry and trade must benefit, he added.

The GST Council, in its meeting had recommended a four-tier tax structure -- 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent. On top of the highest slab, a cess will be imposed on luxury and demerit goods to compensate the states for revenue loss in the first five years of GST implementation. Besides, the rates are to be discussed by the GST Council on May 18-19.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9237.10, down by 24.85 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 9212.60 and 9249.20. There were 21 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indian Oil Corporation up by 3.11%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.14%, BPCL up by 2.06%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.89% and Bharti Infratel up by 1.74%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.27%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.72%, Bank Of Baroda down by 1.63%, Zee Entertainment Enterprises down by 1.49% and Reliance Industries down by 1.47% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 0.63%, Taiwan Weighted shed 0.25%, Jakarta Composite fell 0.62%, KOSPI Index slipped 0.19% and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 0.1%. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite increased 0.41% and Nikkei 225 was up by 0.73%.