Indian bourses trade marginally lower in noon deals

Indian equity indices were trading marginally lower in early afternoon session, as selling appeared in IT, TECK and Banking stocks. The sentiments remained in lackadaisical mood with India’s fiscal deficit breaching FY18 target at Nov-end by standing at 112% of Budget Estimates. The country’s fiscal deficit, the difference between government expenditure and revenue, stood at Rs 6.12 lakh crore for the period April-November 2017-18. Some concern also crept in with government’s statement that Indian economy slowed down in 2016-17, with the gross domestic product declining drastically from 8 percent in 2015-16 to 7.1 percent the next year. However, further losses were restricted with report that the government has extended by 10 days the last date for filing of final sales return GSTR-1 till January 10 under the Goods and Services Tax. Businesses with turnover of up to Rs 1.5 crore will have to file GSTR-1 for July-September by January 10, 2018, as against December 31, 2017 earlier. In the currency front, the rupee emerged strong in early trade, and was trading at 63.67 against US Dollar, higher by 20 paise. In scrip specific development, Gayatri Projects was up by around two and half percent after bagging a new order of Rs 583 crore from National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34041.41, down by 15.42 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 34032.70 and 34101.13. There were 16 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.75%, while Small cap index was up by 0.98%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.29%, Healthcare up by 0.88%, Utilities up by 0.81%, Industrials up by 0.68% and Consumer Durables up by 0.62%, while IT down by 0.23%, TECK down by 0.18%, Bankex down by 0.12% and Energy down by 0.08% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.67%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.14%, Tata Motors up by 0.96%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 0.96% and Coal India up by 0.76%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.15%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.96%, ICICI Bank down by 0.76%, HDFC down by 0.61% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.30% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that creditors, banks and unsecured creditors would need to take a haircut on their bad loans to resolve the issue of non-performing assets (NPAs), even as defaulting promoters could make their businesses operational again by paying the outstanding interest on the loan. He also said that an ineligibility criteria was required to keep promoters responsible for NPAs from coming back to take over the company.

The minister has said that the government featured later in the waterfall list of creditors involved in the resolution of the NPA, or bad loans, in the Indian banking system that have crossed the staggering level of Rs 8.5 lakh crore. He noted that a haircut signifies accepting a lower than market value for the asset for a resolution of the NPA. Besides, he clarified that management is not barred from making a unit operational if it pays the outstanding interest on the stressed loan. He said 'No one is being barred for life and neither are we asking that you pay the whole amount. Just pay the interest and make the account operational.'

Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha has passed a Bill that seeks to amend the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to plug potential loopholes and prohibit certain persons, such as wilful defaulters, from submitting resolution plans to let them take charge of the company. It will replace an ordinance promulgated earlier. The IBC, being implemented by the Corporate Affairs Ministry, became operational in December 2016 and provides for a time-bound insolvency resolution process. The changes proposed are expected to help streamline the process of selecting buyers for stressed assets.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10523.30, down by 7.40 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 10516.35 and 10537.85. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 2.67%, Sun Pharma up by 1.74%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.15%, Coal India up by 0.82% and Tata Motors up by 0.80%.

On the flip side, Bharti Infratel down by 1.44%, TCS down by 1.25%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.98%, HCL Tech. down by 0.85% and Bosch down by 0.82% were the top losers.