Markets remain sluggish; Nifty below 10100 mark

Indian equity benchmarks remained sluggish in late morning session ahead of the crucial outcome of the monetary policy committee’s meeting later in the day, with the Nifty breaching 10,100 mark. Selling in Metal, FMCG and Capital Goods stocks also contributed to the downtrend. Traders remained concerned after finance minister Arun Jaitley cautioned that the fiscal deficit of states may rise this year, with states likely to tap the markets to raise funds to finance farm debt waivers. Some cautiousness also came with the Central Electricity Authority’ (CEA) statement that about 7 percent of India's coal-fired power plants may never be able to comply with new environmental norms because they lack the space to install emission-cutting equipment, potentially leading to their shutdown.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, following Dow industrial's record-high finish, as upbeat corporate earnings reports and China factory data boosted investors confidence. Apple's surprise earnings report pushed up share prices of its Asian suppliers.

Back home, in scrip specific development, Artson Engineering traded higher after the company received an order worth Rs 23.34 crore for Design, Engineering, Supply and Installation, Testing and Commissioning of Connector Fuel Pipelines including associated civil, electrical, instrumentation works.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 32557.22, down by 17.95 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 32532.22 and 32686.48. There were 12 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.36%, while Small cap index was up by 0.13%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 0.56%, Consumer Durables up by 0.48%, Realty up by 0.47%, Power up by 0.39% and Energy up by 0.32%, while Metal down by 0.87%, FMCG down by 0.59%, Capital Goods down by 0.46%, Basic Materials down by 0.27% and Industrials down by 0.26% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hero MotoCorp up by 2.48%, NTPC up by 2.21%, Lupin up by 1.52%, Axis Bank up by 1.33% and Reliance Industries up by 0.82%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 1.04%, Asian Paints down by 0.88%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 0.88%, ONGC down by 0.87% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.75% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government has collected over Rs 1.80 lakh crore through direct taxes till mid-July in the financial year 2017-18, a surge of 21.4 percent year-on-year. This fiscal, the government is aiming to collect Rs 9.8 lakh crore in direct taxes, which could further increase if greater compliance was ensured.

Belying worries of India’s economic growth slowdown, Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar has stated that the current growth rate is higher as compared to the target rate of 15.32 percent required to achieve the Budget Estimate.  He also pointed out that the current growth rate in direct tax collections is quite healthy, belying any apprehension of reduction in the level of economic or commercial activities. He also mentioned that the government has taken significant initiatives to strengthen the economic activity in the country and several positive measures were announced in the Budget 2017–18.

Gangwar further said that the number of cyber crimes pertaining to credit card, ATM, debit card and internet banking shows a marginal rise of 4.4 percent to 13,653 in 2016-17 from 13,083 in 2014-15. He also noted that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a Cyber Security Framework in Banks, making it mandatory for banks to put in place a Board-approved cyber-security policy, which covers the risks from cyber threats and the measures to address these risks.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10097.90, down by 16.75 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 10091.70 and 10137.85. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hero MotoCorp up by 2.48%, NTPC up by 1.94%, Lupin up by 1.45%, Axis Bank up by 1.36% and Bosch up by 1.15%. On the flip side, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 1.32%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.19%, Hindalco down by 1.17%, Vedanta down by 1.17% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.01% were the top losers.

All the Asian market were trading in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 4.12 points or 0.23% to 1,769.25, Shanghai Composite increased 5.56 points or 0.17% to 3,298.20, KOSPI Index increased 5.73 points or 0.24% to 2,428.69, Jakarta Composite increased 11.1 points or 0.19% to 5,816.30, Taiwan Weighted increased 81.98 points or 0.79% to 10,519.27, Nikkei 225 increased 99.09 points or 0.5% to 20,084.88 and Hang Seng increased 190.58 points or 0.69% to 27,730.81.