Sensex, Nifty trim losses; trade continues in red

Indian key indices trimmed some of their losses but continued their sluggish trade in red in late afternoon session amid lower opening in European markets. Some recovery also witnessed in the broader indices with BRICS New Development Bank chairman K.V. Kamath's statement that the slowdown in the Indian economy is only a transitionary phase and it will bounce back due to the successful implementation of the structural reforms that includes the positive impact of GST followed by demonetisation. However, sentiments remained down as foreign brokerage reported that investment continued to slip to 27.5 percent of GDP, from 29.2 percent in June 2016, with high lending rates dampening demand and sustaining excess capacity. Selling pressure in Realty, Telecom and IT, too weighted on the market. Meanwhile, in order to fastrack dispute resolutions, the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) has asked Ministry of Law & Justice to help set up commercial courts at the district level. The aim is to improve India’s ranking on World Bank’s ease of doing business index.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red, as North Korea’s latest nuclear test prompted investors to rush to safe-haven assets. Asian markets were also trading in red. Back home, in scrip specific development, Ajanta Pharma inched up after the company received final approval from US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for Entacapone Tablets. It is a bioequivalent generic version of Comtan Tablets. The company will be launching the product shortly in 200mg strength tablets.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 31682.97, down by 209.26 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 31560.32 and 31932.20. There were 6 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.75%, while Small cap index was down by 0.74%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty down by 2.11%, Telecom down by 1.56%, IT down by 1.16%, TECK down by 1.09% and Industrials down by 1.05%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Coal India up by 3.10%, ONGC up by 0.91%, Power Grid Corporation up by 0.85%, NTPC up by 0.42% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.28%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 2.48%, Infosys down by 1.99%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.82%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.81% and Hero MotoCorp down by 1.61% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to minimise human interface, the Income Tax (I-T) Department will focus more on e-assessment which will also lead to complete transparency, by ensuring work to be completed online. Besides, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) which is a part of Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance, aims to add a sizeable number of new taxpayers in the current fiscal. It aims to achieve the twin objectives of substantially reducing the number of appeals and the disputed demand before CIT (appeals).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to track undeclared wealth and fix clear targets for improving tax administration by 2022, also asked tax officials to use data analytics. PM asked taxmen to clear pendency of cases and create an environment that instills confidence among honest taxpayers and uproots corruption.

Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia too expressed need of coordination between both the CBDT and Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), further stressing that genuine grievances of taxpayers should be disposed off on priority and taxpayers should be treated with courtesy. He underlined the importance of increasing efforts to garner revenue in light of the data that is available post demonetisation.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9901.80, down by 72.60 points or 0.73% after trading in a range of 9861.00 and 9988.40. There were 11 stocks advancing against 40 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 3.04%, Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 1.24%, Power Grid Corporation up by 1.02%, Bosch up by 0.96% and ONGC up by 0.88%. On the flip side, Indian Oil Corp. down by 4.10%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 2.56%, ACC down by 2.27%, Tata Power down by 2.12% and Infosys down by 2.06% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 212.9 points or 0.76% to 27,740.26, Nikkei 225 decreased 183.22 points or 0.93% to 19,508.25, Jakarta Composite decreased 52.79 points or 0.9% to 5,811.27, KOSPI Index decreased 28.04 points or 1.19% to 2,329.65 and Taiwan Weighted decreased 24.95 points or 0.24% to 10,569.87. On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 12.02 points or 0.68% to 1,773.16 and Shanghai Composite increased 12.46 points or 0.37% to 3,379.58.

European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX dropped 58.71 points or 0.48% to 12,083.93, France’s CAC decreased 22.41 points or 0.44% to 5,100.85 and UK’s FTSE 100 was down by 11.32 points or 0.15% to 7,427.18.