Key indices continue to trade in red zone

Indian markets continued to trade in red zone in the early noon session, with Sensex and Nifty posting losses of 66 and 31 points respectively due to heavy selling in Realty, Metal, Consumer Discretionary and Auto stocks. Depreciating rupee and weakness in Asian markets too added some pressure on the markets. Traders remained concern as The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) has busted a racket of fraudulent companies engaged in raising fake tax invoices worth Rs 220 crore to avail input-tax credit. Sentiments remain dampened with Finance Commission chairman NK Singh’s statement that a note of caution against fiscal slippage, saying it would adversely impact the country’s macroeconomic stability as well as investment climate. Meanwhile, on a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 134.14 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 488.55 crore on Friday.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red, as investors weighed news over the weekend that President Donald Trump has discussed firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as well as the impact of a partial U.S. government shutdown. Back home, Niti Aayog has ranked Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala as top performing states to comply with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals in its first of its kind India Index for SDGs.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35655.77, down by 86.30 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 35634.50 and 35910.67. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.41%, while Small cap index was down by 0.67%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.05%, TECK up by 0.80% and FMCG was up by 0.32%, while Realty down by 2.14%, Metal down by 1.48%, consumer discretionary down by 1.12%, Basic Materials down by 1.01% and Auto was down by 0.97% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 1.76%, Infosys up by 1.20%, Sun Pharma up by 1.09%, ITC up by 0.98% and Mahindra & Mahindra was up by 0.49%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 3.28%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.08%, Asian Paints down by 1.81%, HCL Tech. down by 1.77% and Vedanta was down by 1.60% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a big relief for common man, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, at its 31st meeting has decided to lower tax rates on 23 goods and services, including movie tickets, TV and monitor screens and power banks, and exempted frozen and preserved vegetables from the levy. The new rates would come into effect from January 1, 2019.

Of the 23 goods and services on which rates have been slashed, tax rate on seven items in the 28 percent slab has been brought down. With this, only 28 goods are left in the highest 28 per cent tax bracket. The goods on which GST has been lowered to 18 percent from 28 percent at present include pulleys, transmission shafts and cranks, gear boxes, retreated or used tyres, power banks of lithium ion batteries, digital cameras, video camera recorders and video game consoles. The 28 percent slab is now restricted to only luxury and sin goods apart from auto-parts and cement - the tax rate on which could not be cut due to high revenue implication. Mass use item cement and white goods like air conditioners and dishwashers are left in the 28 per cent slab.

Further, Cinema tickets costing up to Rs 100 will have GST rate of 12 percent from 18 percent and tickets with cost more than Rs 100 will attract GST rate of 18 percent as against 28 per cent now. This will have annual revenue implication of Rs 9 billion. That apart, TVs and computer monitors will attract 18 per cent GST as against 28 per cent at present. Similarly, power banks and some agricultural accessories will also have lower rate of GST at 18 percent. The Council has also decided to slash tax rate on parts and accessories for the carriages for disabled persons from 28 percent to 5 percent. Also third party insurance premium of goods carrying vehicles has been reduced from 18 per cent to 12 percent. The other items will attract lower GST rate of 5 percent include marble rubble, natural cork, walking stick, fly ash blocks.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10723.10, down by 30.90 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 10708.65 and 10782.30. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were TCS up by 1.87%, Wipro up by 1.16%, Sun Pharma up by 0.98%, ITC up by 0.92% and Infosys was up by 0.90%. On the flip side, JSW Steel down by 3.51%, Hero MotoCorp down by 3.41%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.12%, Zee Entertainment down by 1.97% and Indian Oil Corporation was down by 1.90% were the top losers.

Asian market were trading in red, Hang Seng decreased 102.04 points or 0.4% to 25,651.38, Taiwan Weighted dropped 6.46 points or 0.07% to 9,639.70, KOSPI fell 5.71 points or 0.28% to 2,055.78 and Shanghai Composite was down by 0.03 points or 0% to 2,516.22.

On the other hand, Straits Times was up by 5.02 points or 0.16% to 3,051.06.