Markets at day’s low; Sensex falls over 200 points

Key India equity benchmarks added losses in late morning session to trade at intraday low points, with Sensex falling more than 200 points, amid weak cues from other Asian markets. Sluggish broader market conditions and heavy selling in Realty, PSU and Capital Goods stocks, also dragged the indices lower. Traders remained wary with a private report which expects that PSU banks will report treasury loss of Rs 20K crore in Q4. It is of the view that the bond hit will add to Q4 woes while over ownership will weigh on earnings.  The market participants overlooked the report stating that the Indian economy is likely to recover gradually to 7.1 per cent in 2018-19 financial year as GST related disruptions have smoothened and consumption levels have improved. Traders also failed to take any relief with the report that employment transition from farm to non-farm sectors in India will be spearheaded by sales domain which has the potential to create 2.5 million jobs in the next three years.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red, amid cautious trades following news that White House chief economic adviser Gary Cohn, an advocate for free trade, has resigned from the Trump administration. Cohn's resignation stoked fears that Trump will go ahead with his plan to impose tariffs and risk a trade war. It also overshadowed easing geopolitical concerns after North Korea said it is willing to talk about denuclearization. Back home, in scrip specific development, Ortel Communications gained after the company incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary in the name of ‘Ortel Broadband’ on February 28, 2018 registered with the Registrar of Companies (ROC) Delhi under Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33115.47, down by 201.73 points or 0.61% after trading in a range of 33114.72 and 33331.21. There were 8 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.06%, while Small cap index was down by 1.49%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 0.30%, IT up by 0.22% and TECK up by 0.04%, while Realty down by 1.66%, PSU down by 1.61%, Capital Goods down by 1.39%, Bankex down by 1.32% and Power down by 1.23% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 1.34%, ITC up by 0.97%, Wipro up by 0.79%, HDFC up by 0.70% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 0.48%. On the flip side, SBI down by 3.06%, ICICI Bank down by 2.68%, ONGC down by 2.43%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.92% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.85% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government has said that the implementation of nationwide e-way Bill system, to be generated under the goods and services tax (GST) for intra-state movement of goods valued at over Rs 50,000, will become mandatory within a state from June 01, 2018. Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla has clarified that as per the GST Council decision, the states may choose any date before June 01 for implementing the national e-way bill system for intra-state movement of goods but all states shall implement it latest by June 01.

Shukla has stated that all states had joined the government's centralised e-way bill system for inter-state road transportation of goods under the GST regime. Accordingly, he said that the government, on the recommendations of the GST Council, appointed the first day of February as the date from which the provisions of the e-way bill rules shall come into force for inter-state movement of goods.

However, the minister said that in view of the difficulties faced by the traders in generating the e-way bill due to initial technological glitches, it was decided by the GST Council to extend the trial phase for generation of e-way bills, both for inter-state and intra-state movement of goods. For inter-state movement of goods, the system is expected to become mandatory from April 1 if the recommendation of the Group of Ministers on Information Technology is approved by the GST Council during its March 10 meeting.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10177.30, down by 71.95 points or 0.70% after trading in a range of 10174.30 and 10243.35. There were 13 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 1.44%, HCL Tech up by 1.31%, ITC up by 1.07%, Wipro up by 0.78% and Zee Entertainment up by 0.48%. On the flip side, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 3.10%, SBI down by 2.94%, ONGC down by 2.51%, ICICI Bank down by 2.49% and HPCL down by 2.27% were the top losers.

All the Asian markets were trading in red; Hang Seng decreased 213.55 points or 0.7% to 30,297.18, Nikkei 225 decreased 168.61 points or 0.79% to 21,249.15, Jakarta Composite decreased 79.72 points or 1.23% to 6,420.39, Taiwan Weighted decreased 39.02 points or 0.36% to 10,745.32, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 9.41 points or 0.51% to 1,838.96, KOSPI Index decreased 4.14 points or 0.17% to 2,407.27 and Shanghai Composite decreased 2.66 points or 0.08% to 3,286.98.