Benchmarks extend losses in early noon deals

Key Indian benchmarks extended southward journey in early noon deals to breach their crucial 10,750 (Nifty) and 35,400 (Sensex) levels amid weakness in Asian counters as the trade spat between the US and China intensified. Unabated capital outflows by foreign funds and profit-booking by retail investors too dampened sentiment. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net of Rs 754.43 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 824.10 crore on June 18, 2018. Besides, the rupee tumbled by 12 paise to a fresh three-week low of 68.11 against the US dollar in late morning trade today on sustained demand for the American currency from importers and banks amid lower local equities.

On the sectoral front, stocks of oil marketing companies such as HPCL, BPCL and IOC, which had a good day yesterday, came under selling pressure in line with the overall trend and fell up to 3 percent. In scrip specific developments, ONGC gained on selling gas from three CBM blocks at $5.77-$6.12 per MMBtu and Strides Shasun edhigher with arm getting approval for Ketoconazole Tablets.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35336.10, down by 212.16 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 35333.71 and 35552.47. There were 8 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 1.07%, while Small cap index was down by 1.04%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty down by 1.59%, Basic Materials down by 1.49%, Metal down by 1.36%, Power down by 1.30% and Energy down by 1.17%, while there were no gainers on the BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.53%, ONGC up by 0.52%, Asian Paints up by 0.33%, HDFC Bank up by 0.32% and Yes Bank up by 0.15%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 2.88%, Infosys down by 1.87%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.71%, Adani Ports down by 1.63% and SBI down by 1.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Arun Jaitley has expressed confidence that Indian economy may maintain the tag of fastest growing major economy for some years. The fourth quarter results of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of last financial year (FY18) which showed a phenomenal 7.7% growth rate and has established India firmly as the fastest growing global economy.  Further, he mentioned that with structural reforms like demonetisation, the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax and the enforcement of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, the government had two challenging quarters. Those who predicted a 2% decline in GDP growth has been conclusively proved wrong.

Besides, Jaitley stated that double digit growth in the construction sector, record FDI, manufacturing expansion and financial inclusion schemes have created jobs and opportunities for self employment. He added that demonetisation, GST, digitisation, Aadhaar and the anti-black money measures are leading to gradual formalisation of Indian economy.  Moreover, he said that if the trend of tax collection continues over the next few years, India will have better future.

Talking about tax collection, the Minister highlighted that the country has received 6.86 crore income tax return filers last year. The number of income tax returns post demonetisation showed a 25% growth. Even the corporate returns have increased by 17%. Additionally, on job creation he stated that an analysis of the data released clearly shows that the construction sector is expanding by double digits and it is a job creating sector. Investment is increasing and domestic investment is also increasing. He added that the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is at an unprecedented level.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10737.30, down by 62.55 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 10724.25 and 10789.45. There were 10 stocks advancing against 40 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were GAIL India up by 1.85%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.33%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.24%, HDFC Bank up by 0.71% and Lupin up by 0.64%. On the flip side, HPCL down by 3.32%, BPCL down by 3.01%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 2.96%, Vedanta down by 2.91% and Hindalco down by 2.29% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 declined 401.85 points or 1.80% to 22,278.48, Hang Seng tumbled 806.57 points or 2.73% to 29,502.92, Taiwan Weighted dropped 183.28 points or 1.68% to 10,904.19, Shanghai Composite crumbled 95.80 points or 3.27% to 2,926.10 and KOSPI was down by 38.75 points or 1.66% to 2,337.49. On the flip side, Straits Times gained 0.67 points or 0.02% to 3,324.71.