Sensex, Nifty extend losses to hover near intraday lows

Mirroring weak European markets, Indian equity benchmarks extended their losses in late afternoon session to trade near the intraday lows, as investors booked profits in recent outperformers, while soft U.S. economic data, a relatively hawkish Federal Reserve and worries of political turmoil in the world's largest economy weighed on the sentiments. Heavy selling pressure was witnessed in PSU, Oil & Gas and Capital Goods stocks.  Investors remained pessimistic with the report stating that the likely increase in farm loan waivers will dampen sentiments of PSU banks and NBFCs. Some concerns also came with report that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 161.13 crore on June 14, 2017. Meanwhile, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued a circular specifying the comprehensive review of margin trading facility (MTF) framework including disclosure norms, leverage & exposure limits and eligibility requirements for stock brokers to provide it to clients.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red as investors digested comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve and waited to hear from the Bank of England. The Swiss National Bank left its rate unchanged. Asian markets were also trading in red. Back home, in scrip specific development, Fiberweb (India) edged higher after the company received export orders worth Rs 20.8 crore ($4.16 million).

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 31083.53, down by 72.38 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 31068.01 and 31229.44. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.09%, while Small cap index gained 0.45%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.32%, Healthcare up by 0.95%, Energy up by 0.41%, Power up by 0.15% and FMCG up by 0.11%, while PSU down by 0.76%, Capital Goods down by 0.66%, Oil & Gas down by 0.64%, IT down by 0.60% and TECK down by 0.55% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 2.25%, Wipro up by 2.07%, Cipla up by 1.45%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.29% and Sun Pharma Inds. up by 0.97%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.79%, TCS down by 1.65%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.50%, GAIL India down by 1.27% and Coal India down by 1.17% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, amid ongoing debate over demonetization impact on the economy, the Chief Statistician of the government, TCA Anant has said that effects of demonetization will be clearer towards end of the current fiscal after data from the government and company accounts come in. He also mentioned that the short term figures could not assess these impacts and as statistician, he will need to see the trajectories and work out the analysis.

Anant further said that even if the move has affected the economy at multiple levels, it should not be seen just from the perspective of cash replacement as it has also benefited in many ways to the country and added that the note ban has improved digital transactions and tax collection. He noted that the overall trajectory of growth post-November to pre-November has seen a distinct structural break.

On the upcoming Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, Anant said that it would improve the quality of the statistical data as it would plug leakages in the sales tax regime and so improvement in quality of measurement along with the linkage with informal activity will actually make GDP compilation better.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9583.60, down by 34.55 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 9575.00 and 9621.40. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were Aurobindo Pharma up by 6.15%, Reliance Industries up by 2.17%, Wipro up by 1.91%, Cipla up by 1.44% and Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.29%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 3.06%, Indian Oil Corp. down by 2.15%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.81%, Bharti Infratel down by 1.75% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.65% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 310.56 points or 1.2% to 25,565.34, Nikkei 225 decreased 51.7 points or 0.26% to 19,831.82, Jakarta Composite decreased 13.26 points or 0.23% to 5,779.63, KOSPI Index decreased 10.99 points or 0.46% to 2,361.65 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 0.68 points or 0.04% to 1,791.67. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite increased 1.81 points or 0.06% to 3,132.49 and Taiwan Weighted increased 15.89 points or 0.16% to 10,088.35.

All European Markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 61.12 points or 0.48% to 12,744.83, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 43.14 points or 0.58% to 7,431.26 and France’s CAC decreased 39.91 points or 0.76% to 5,203.38.