Indian equities add losses; Energy stocks continue to fall

Adding some losses, Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade lower in afternoon session, as investors awaited March-quarter corporate earnings. Traders took a note of Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu’s statement underlining a need to develop a proper matrix to understand changes in the Indian economy and job creation that is happening at a rapid pace. He stated that the relation between employment generation to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will always undergo a change depending upon the profile of the economy. Traders overlooked Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that the country is expected to become the third largest economy in the world by 2030 with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) touching $10 trillion, helped by consumption and investment growth. He added that GDP would be $5 trillion by 2024. Currently, the size of the Indian economy is about $2.9 trillion. Moreover, a depreciating rupee, which slipped 31 paise to quote at 69.54 against the dollar in early trade, also kept investors nervous. On the sectoral front, select auto stocks were trading in green with Niti Aayog report stating that India could achieve high penetration of electric vehicles (EV) by 2030 on the back of success of FAME II and other measures.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, as investors digested better-than-expected jobs data in the U.S. and reports of progress in trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38761.67, down by 100.56 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 38746.52 and 39041.25. There were 12 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.23%, while Small cap index was up by 0.18%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 0.89%, Utilities up by 0.58%, Telecom up by 0.33%, Capital Goods up by 0.19% and TECK was up by 0.04%, while Energy down by 1.21%, Realty down by 1.02%, Oil & Gas down by 0.79%, Consumer Durables down by 0.39% and Healthcare was down by 0.37% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 1.63%, NTPC up by 1.52%, Indusind Bank up by 1.41%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.12% and Hindustan Unilever was up by 0.74%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 1.75%, Asian Paints down by 1.63%, Reliance Industries down by 1.48%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.12% and Axis Bank was down by 0.78% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, pitching for inclusion of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) under the purview of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, Union Minister Suresh Prabhu said that the move will ensure a level playing field for the domestic airline industry. He also said that input costs should be competitive for any sector.

The Minister has stated that different rates of taxes in states pushes the price of ATF. He said “each state has a different tax. Due to this, the refuelling (for airlines) cost completely changes. We feel that it should be done. I hope the GST Council takes a call on that and we are pursuing this with the council continuously.”

Prabhu further said that airlines have been lobbying hard to bring ATF within the GST. He also said that airlines could expect an annual relief of up to Rs 5,000 crore by way of input tax credit if fuel is part of the GST. He added that the move could cushion them from the burden of increased jet fuel prices, besides providing relief to customers.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11622.65, down by 43.30 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 11619.00 and 11710.30. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 1.63%, NTPC up by 1.30%, Indusind Bank up by 1.20%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.12% and Hindustan Unilever was up by 0.77%. On the flip side, Indian Oil Corporation down by 2.27%, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 2.09%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.07%, BPCL down by 1.68% and Asian Paints was down by 1.62% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Jakarta Composite dropped 72.59 points or 1.12% to 6,401.43, Nikkei 225 slipped 45.85 points or 0.21% to 21,761.65, Shanghai Composite declined 9.00 points or 0.28% to 3,237.57 and Straits Times trembled 5.56 points or 0.17% to 3,317.08. On the flip side, KOSPI rose 0.99 points or 0.04% to 2,210.60, Hang Seng increased 92.82 points or 0.31% to 30,029.14 and Taiwan Weighted strengthened 96.19 points or 0.9% to 10,800.57.