Weak trade persists on D-Street

Key Indian benchmarks continued their weak trade in late morning session, on the back of heavy selling in Banking, Telecom, TECK and Healthcare stocks amid weak Asian markets. Traders were cautious with Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia’s statement that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) compliance is still low. He added that a clear trend about revenue collections is likely to emerge only after three-four months, once integrated GST (IGST) is converted into Central GST and State GST, as GST revenue includes IGST revenue. Some concerns also came with the report that India Inc's investment in overseas ventures fell by nearly 39.3 per cent to $ 2.65 billion in September this year. Adding to the pessimism, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu said that any new initiative will face problems but said the focus should now be on implementation of the tax reform and making it more people friendly. However, the broader markets were trading in green territory with the marginal gains.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in mostly in red as investors were trading cautiously as China's President Xi Jinping spoke at the beginning of the Communist Party's 19th National Congress, the most important political meeting of the party in the past five years. Investors are waiting for clues on future policy direction in the world's second-largest economy. Back home, in scrip specific development, Peninsula Land traded jubilantly after the company received Rs 200 crore out of the total consideration of Rs 226 crore from Godrej Skyline Developers for sale of property situated at Village Mamurdi, Taluka Haveli, District - Pune, Maharashtra.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 32504.13, down by 105.03 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 32464.40 and 32557.40. There were 9 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index, while 2 stocks remained unchanged.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.01%, while Small cap index was up by 0.08%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.44%, Oil & Gas up by 0.69%, Power up by 0.53%, Utilities up by 0.52% and Capital Goods up by 0.17%, while Bankex down by 1.82%, Telecom down by 1.70%, TECK down by 0.56%, Healthcare down by 0.54% and Metal down by 0.41% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 2.55%, Power Grid Corporation up by 1.85%, Wipro up by 1.57%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.54% and ONGC up by 1.43%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 8.22%, ICICI Bank down by 3.92%, Cipla down by 2.51%, SBI down by 2.31% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.26% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a bid to guard the interest of domestic players from cheap in-bound shipments, the government has imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of some flat steel products from China and European Union (EU) for five years. The duty will be the difference between the landed value of the steel products and $822 per tonne.

The duty was imposed after the commerce ministry's directorate general of anti-dumping and allied duties (DGAD) recommended duty on such imports. In its findings, the DGAD had concluded that 'colour coated/pre-painted flat products of alloy or non-alloy steel' has been exported to India from these regions at below the normal value, due to which domestic industry has suffered material injury. This anti-dumping duty will be valid for a period of five years (unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier) from11th January and shall be payable in Indian currency. While DGAD recommends the duty to be levied, the finance ministry imposes it.

The government has already slapped anti-dumping duty on certain cold-rolled flat steel products from four nations, including China and South Korea. Countries initiate anti-dumping probes to determine if the domestic industry has been hurt by a surge in below-cost imports. As a counter-measure, they impose the duty. These duties are in compliance with the rules of global trade body World Trade Organisation (WTO). The duties also ensure fair trade by providing a level- playing field to the domestic industry. They are not a measure to restrict imports or cause an unjustified increase in the cost of products.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10191.75, down by 42.70 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 10184.35 and 10211.85. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Reliance Industries up by 2.81%, Power Grid Corporation up by 1.83%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.58%, Wipro up by 1.54% and ONGC up by 1.52%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 8.42%, ICICI Bank down by 3.91%, Yes Bank down by 3.28%, Bharti Infratel down by 3.02% and Zee Entertainment down by 2.95% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 50.72 points or 0.18% to 28,646.77, Jakarta Composite decreased 20.01 points or 0.34% to 5,927.32, KOSPI Index decreased 3.25 points or 0.13% to 2,481.12 and Taiwan Weighted decreased 2.87 points or 0.03% to 10,720.28.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite increased 6 points or 0.18% to 3,378.04 and Nikkei 225 increased 30.13 points or 0.14% to 21,366.25.