Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks traded on a weak note throughout the day on Thursday and sharp selloff in last hour of trade largely forced the markets to close at day’s low, with the Nifty ending below 11,250 level. The market breadth was tilted in favour of declines. Markets traded in red since the beginning, following weak Asian peers on fresh concerns of trade war between world two biggest economies, US and China. Investor sentiments were dampened with RBI Governor Urjit Patel flagging the risks to macroeconomic stability from a potential currency war in the wake of rising global trade tensions. Traders also reacted negatively to EEPC India chairman Ravi Sehgal’s statement that the 25 basis points increase in the interest rates by the RBI is a big negative for exporters, as they would become less competitive in a tough global market that is already facing the threat of tariff war.

Selling got intensified during final hours of trade, as sentiments on the street weakened further with report stating that Goods and services tax (GST) collection rose in July but stayed well below the government’s target of Rs 1 trillion for a third month in succession of the current financial year (starting April 1). The market participants failed to take support with Finance Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that GST revenues will go up in the coming months on improved compliance and market demand. Investors even overlooked a report that RBI has maintained its growth outlook for the economy, estimating the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to grow at 7.4% in 2018-19. It noted that GDP growth would range between 7.5-7.6% in H1 and 7.3-7.4% in H2.

On the global front, Asian markets ended in red, while European markets were trading in red in early deals on Thursday, as trade war fears ratcheted higher after the United States said it was looking at more than doubling threatened tariffs on a range of Chinese imports. Back home, stocks related to power sector were in limelight on report from Central Electricity Authority which stated that India forecast for a third year that it will be able to supply more electricity than its distribution companies require as generation and transmission capacity rises. Supply from power plants will exceed demand from distributors by 4.6%.

The BSE Sensex ended at 37150.24, down by 371.38 points or 0.99% after trading in a range of 37143.99 and 37529.69. There were 8 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.03%, while Small cap index was up by 0.02%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 0.95%, Utilities up by 0.54%, Consumer Durables up by 0.38%, Power up by 0.22% and PSU up by 0.09%, while Telecom down by 1.56%, Realty down by 1.51%, Auto down by 1.37%, Energy down by 0.99% and Bankex down by 0.92% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 2.15%, Coal India up by 0.92%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.89%, Wipro up by 0.76% and Indusind Bank up by 0.63%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.83%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.65%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.96%, HDFC down by 1.94% and Reliance Industries down by 1.94% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, revenue collection under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) during the month of July 2018 increased to Rs 96,483 crore, as compared to previous month’s revenue collection of Rs 95,610 crore, on the back of improved compliance of the e-way bill, which has been made mandatory for moving goods worth over Rs 50,000 from one State to another.

According to the Finance Ministry data, out of the Rs 96,483 crore, Central GST (CGST) was Rs 15,877 crore, State GST (SGST) Rs 22,293 crore, Integrated GST (IGST) Rs 49,951 crore (including Rs 24,852 crore collected on imports) and cess Rs 8,362 crore. It added that this is broadly on expected lines. It also noted that as many as 66 lakh businesses filed returns in the month of July, making it the highest number of monthly GSTR-3B filed since the rollout of GST in July last year.

The Ministry has stated that despite a rise in revenue collection in July, the mop-up is still lower than the government’s monthly target of Rs 1 lakh crore. The 2018-19 budgeted estimate for GST collection is Rs 12 lakh crore.

The CNX Nifty ended at 11239.20, down by 107.00 points or 0.94% after trading in a range of 11236.05 and 11328.90. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Lupin up by 2.58%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.34%, Power Grid up by 2.17%, HPCL up by 1.65% and BPCL up by 1.52%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 3.12%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.60%, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.26%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.02% and Reliance Industries down by 2.02% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 shed by 81.61 points or 1.08% to 7,572.38, France’s CAC was down by 49.23 points or 0.90% to 5,449.14 and Germany’s DAX dropped by 230.67 points or 1.84% to 12,506.38.

Asian equity markets closed lower on Thursday as trade tensions intensified and the US Federal Reserve signaled it stayed on course to increase borrowing costs in September and likely again in December. US President Donald Trump has escalated his trade war with China, ordering his administration to consider raising the proposed tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to 25 percent from the 10 percent announced earlier. A spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry accused the US of ‘blackmail’ and warned of inevitable countermeasures if the US takes further escalatory steps. Chinese stocks ended lower, with rising trade tensions as well as speculation over even tighter property restrictions weighing on markets. Further, Japanese shares fell as the yen strengthened on safe-haven demand after an escalation in the Sino-US trade war.