Benchmarks continue to trade in negative zone

Equity benchmarks continued to trade in negative zone in early noon session amid rising crude prices, weak rupee, with Sensex and Nifty plunging over 160 and 40 points respectively. On the Sensex, HDFC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Airtel and Kotak Mahindra Bank were amongst the major losers, while on the Nifty, Indiabulls Housing, Wipro, Cipla and Infosys were amongst the top gainers. Sentiments remain dampened with a private report that the recent move by the US government to change the method of H-1B visa allotment is a mixed bag for India. It added that while the move is expected to have a negative impact on the Indian technology services industry. Meanwhile, the country has more than 18 lakh registered companies but only 62 percent of them were actively functioning at the end of October. With more than 6.46 lakh companies shuttered and many others undergoing various regulatory processes, including liquidation, the total number of active entities stood at 11.16 lakh during the period. Besides, traders shrugged off a private report stating that Unemployment rate clocked 6.7% in November a marginal improvement from 6.9% in October, with urban employment rising and rural showing a drop.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in mostly in red, as rising doubts over whether China and the US will be able to resolve trade differences. Back home, in scrip specific development, Ramco Systems gained on joining hands with KPMG and Ramky Infrastructure surged on completing the sale of 100% of the company's shareholding in NAM Expressway. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36079.00, down by 162.00 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 36050.87 and 36295.84. There were 12 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.05%, while Small cap index was up by 0.21%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.58%, TECK up by 1.24%, Healthcare up by 0.69%, Oil & Gas up by 0.27% and Industrials was up by 0.02%, while Telecom down by 0.86%, Realty down by 0.76%, Power down by 0.65%, Consumer Durables down by 0.57% and FMCG was down by 0.53% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 3.60%, Infosys up by 2.28%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.24%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 1.21% and ONGC was up by 1.16%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 2.71%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.87%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.65%, HDFC Bank down by 1.38% and Kotak Mahindra Bank was down by 1.31% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the finance ministry has said that total Goods and Services Tax (GST) refunds to the tune of Rs 91,149 crore has been cleared by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and the state authorities out of the total refund claims of Rs 97,202 crore received so far. Thus, the disposal rate of 93.77 percent has been achieved. It also indicated that the pending GST refund claims amounting to Rs 6,053 crore are being expeditiously processed so as to give relief to eligible exporters.

Giving the refunds' break-up, the Ministry said that Rs 48,455 crore of IGST refunds have been disposed of as on November 28, which is 95 per cent of the total such claims. It also indicated that as much as Rs 2,473 crore worth of IGST refund claims are held up on account of various deficiencies which have been communicated to exporters for remedial action. In the case of input tax credit claims, it noted that the total claims of Rs 46,274 crore, the pendency as on December 3 stood at Rs 3,580 crore.

It further said that efforts are being made continuously to clear all the pending refund claims, where ever requisite information is provided and found eligible. It also noted that co-operation of the exporter community is solicited to ensure that they respond to the deficiency memos and errors communicated by Centre and State GST as well as Customs Authorities and also exercise due diligence while filing GSTR 1 and GSTR 3B returns as well as Shipping Bills.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10842.60, down by 41.15 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 10838.60 and 10890.95. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indiabulls Housing up by 4.00%, Wipro up by 3.55%, Cipla up by 2.16%, Infosys up by 2.16% and UPL was up by 2.06%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 3.05%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.25%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.75%, HDFC Bank down by 1.54% and Hindalco was down by 1.52% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 533.66 points or 2.42% to 22,041.10, Taiwan Weighted dropped 54.33 points or 0.54% to 10,083.54, Hang Seng decreased 179.73 points or 0.67% to 27,002.31, Straits Times lost 35.30 points or 1.12% to 3,155.32, Shanghai Composite fell 6.71 points or 0.25% to 2,648.09 and KOSPI was down by 23.90 points or 1.13% to 2,108.03.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was up by 16.08 points or 0.26% to 6,134.40.