Weak trade persists in late afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade sluggish in late afternoon session on account of profit booking amid weak opening in the European markets. Traders maintained a cautious approach ahead of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting, scheduled on May 18-19, to finalise the rates of different commodities and services. It will also approve rates of remaining items. Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) President Shobana Kamineni’s statement that India can achieve a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 10 percent by fiscal year 2019-20 on the back of tremendous opportunities available in the economy, failed to relief investors’ sentiments. Besides, select stocks of PSU banks fell sharply after the Modi government notified Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017, saying stressed assets are 'unacceptably high'. Meanwhile, India lost its fastest growing domestic aviation market tag to China in the month of March, posting a lower domestic revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) growth rate. According to International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) latest report, the country’s RPK growth rate dropped in March to 14.6 per cent from 17 per cent in February, mainly because of demonetization move, which has brought it down to the third position among major aviation markets like Australia, Brazil, China, Japan, Russia and the US for the month.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red as investors took a cautious approach ahead of the French election and the latest U.S. jobs data. Besides, tumbling oil prices weighed on the sentiments. However, Asian markets were trading in green. Back home, in scrip specific development, Jubilant Life Sciences jumped higher after the company’s wholly owned subsidiary- Jubilant Pharma (JPL) has signed an Asset Purchase Agreement with Triad Isotopes Inc. (Triad) and its parent, Isotope Holdings, Inc. to acquire substantially all of the assets which comprise the radiopharmacy business of Triad.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29916.22, down by 209.99 points or 0.70% after trading in a range of 29823.60 and 30176.55. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.93%, while Small cap index was down by 0.71%.

The sole gaining sectoral index on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.29%, while Metal down by 2.52%, Oil & Gas down by 1.47%, Basic Materials down by 1.38%, Energy down by 1.28%, Industrials down by 1.27% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 1.71%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 0.91%, ICICI Bank up by 0.77%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.21% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.19%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 3.40%, GAIL India down by 2.54%, ONGC down by 2.41%, Axis Bank down by 2.22% and Tata Steel down by 2.12% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing his optimism about government’s reform measures, Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu has said that the upcoming Goods and Service Tax (GST) regime among other new transformations will be a game changer for the media and entertainment industry, especially the broadcasting sector and added that campaigns like Make in India, Skill India and Digital India were positive signals for new transformation.

Noting India’s broadcasting sector is at the threshold of entering into new era of digital broadcasting, Naidu said that this would open lots of opportunities to use advanced technological innovations to enhance the reach of media along with enhancing the quality of the reach. He assured the government's commitment towards providing an enabling environment through various policies for the further growth of the media sector, praising the initiatives such as Digital India campaign along with the Make in India campaign and expects that they would strengthen the industries such as video streaming, online music services and gaming in India taking advantage of the increased internet penetration.

Eight state assemblies have passed the State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) Bill in April-May as the Centre gears up to roll out the new indirect tax regime nationwide from July. The remaining states/UTs (having Legislative Assemblies) are likely to pass the Bill before the end of this month. Some that get left would be approving it next month.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9302.35, down by 57.55 points or 0.61% after trading in a range of 9272.00 and 9377.10. There were 16 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ACC up by 2.18%, Indiabulls Housing up by 2.06%, Bharti Infratel up by 1.69%, Asian Paints up by 1.60% and Ambuja Cement up by 1.33%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 3.69%, Tata Motors down by 3.38%, Bank of Baroda down by 3.12%, GAIL India down by 2.82% and ONGC down by 2.54% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 4.3 points or 0.24% to 1,762.97, Jakarta Composite increased 18.35 points or 0.32% to 5,687.79, KOSPI Index increased 21.57 points or 0.97% to 2,241.24 and Nikkei 225 increased 135.18 points or 0.7% to 19,445.70. On the flip side, Hang Seng decreased 207.53 points or 0.84% to 24,476.35, Taiwan Weighted decreased 67.7 points or 0.68% to 9,899.94 and Shanghai Composite decreased 24.33 points or 0.78% to 3,103.04.

European markets were trading mostly in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 38.13 points or 0.3% to 12,609.65 and France’s CAC decreased 9.31 points or 0.17% to 5,363.11. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 7.15 points or 0.1% to 7,255.25.