Weak trade persists; Sensex falls over 200 points

Key Indian equity benchmarks continued their weak trade in morning session, the Sensex and Nifty falling more than 200 points and 50 points, respectively, mirroring other weak Asian markets. The market got hit with a report that the government’s revenue collection under Goods and Services Tax (GST) decreased marginally by 1.33% to Rs 85,174 crore (received up to March 26) in the month of February, as against Rs 86,318 crore in January, for the second straight month. Traders were cautious with a private report stating that weak macroeconomic indicators like current account deficit and inflation have exposed India to adverse global macro developments such as US monetary policy trajectory and trade war risks.

Besides, in line with the larger peers, the broader markets were too trading sluggish in morning deals, while metal stocks lost the most among all the sectoral indices. The major industry losers like Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel and NTPC, were also joined the down trend. On the sectoral front, telecom stocks were trading lower amid ICRA’s latest report stating that the revival India’s telecom sector is likely to be prolonged and the pressure on the cash flows of service providers might continue for few more quarters.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red, following a sell-off on Wall Street, with technology firms tracking their US counterparts, while trade war fears continue to niggle at investor confidence. Back home, in scrip specific development, Indiabulls Housing Finance gained on raising Rs 1500 crore through Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs).

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 32963.30, down by 211.09 points or 0.64% after trading in a range of 32947.02 and 33104.11. There were 7 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.36%, while Small cap index was down by 0.59%.

The sole gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Consumer Durables up by 0.41%, while Metal down by 1.64%, Telecom down by 1.39%, Power down by 1.13%, Utilities down by 1.07% and PSU down by 0.91% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 1.76%, TCS up by 0.46%, Indusind Bank up by 0.40%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.18% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.18%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.77%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.31%, NTPC down by 2.16%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.83% and ICICI Bank down by 1.74% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, continuing its declining trend for the second straight month, the government’s revenue collection under Goods and Services Tax (GST) decreased marginally by 1.33% to Rs 85,174 crore (received up to March 26) in the month of February, as against Rs 86,318 crore in January. This marginal decline is because only 69% of total taxpayers filed returns. The finance ministry in its statement has said that around 59.51 lakh GSTR 3B returns were filed for the month of February till March 25.

Out of the total revenue collection, Central GST (CGST) collection was Rs 14,945 crore and State GST (SGST) collection was Rs 20,456 crore. Integrated GST (IGST) collections stood at Rs 42,456 crore, while the Centre released Rs 7,317 crore as compensation cess. Besides, a total amount of Rs 25,564 crore is being transferred from IGST to CGST/SGST account by way of settlement. Thus, the total collection of CGST and SGST up to March 26 (for February) is Rs 27,085 crore and Rs 33,880 crore respectively, including transfers by way of settlement.

Moreover, 1.05 crore taxpayers have been registered under GST till March 25, 2018. Of these, 18.17 lakh are composition dealers which are required to file returns every quarter and the rest of 86.37 lakh taxpayers are required to file monthly returns. As per the finance ministry data, GST collections were Rs 93,590 crore in July, Rs 93,029 crore in August, Rs 95,132 crore in September, Rs 85,931 crore in October, Rs 83,716 crore in November and Rs 88,929 crore in December.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10116.20, down by 67.95 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 10113.60 and 10143.80. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 1.65%, Wipro up by 1.26%, Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 1.10%, Bharti Infratel up by 0.68% and UPL up by 0.51%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.83%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.71%, Hindalco down by 2.49%, NTPC down by 2.43% and Adani Ports & SEZ down by 2.11% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in red; Hang Seng decreased 453.91 points or 1.47% to 30,336.92, Nikkei 225 decreased 357.66 points or 1.68% to 20,959.66, Taiwan Weighted decreased 104.41 points or 0.95% to 10,882.38, Jakarta Composite decreased 46.7 points or 0.75% to 6,162.65, KOSPI Index decreased 37.71 points or 1.54% to 2,414.35, Shanghai Composite decreased 35.17 points or 1.11% to 3,131.48 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 3.69 points or 0.2% to 1,858.76.