Indian bourses continue to trade under pressure

Indian bourses continued to trade under pressure, in line with Asian peers, on worries of US-China trade conflict. The mood of the markets remain impacted as the US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has said that the US wants India to eliminate trade barriers for American firms and remove data localisation restrictions. He also expects that the new government will address these issues. Subdued corporate results and caution ahead of national election outcome also weighed on the market. The broader market has also fallen in tandem with frontline markets. Traders failed to get relief with a report that in order to facilitate private companies in India and the US, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has made a case for a government-to-government agreement between both the countries. On the sectoral front, IT stocks edged lower with US Labour Secretary Alexander Acosta stating that IT service companies based in India, which account for a large number of H-1B applications, are likely to face the additional financial burden because of proposed increase in H-1B filing fees.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red, tracking ripple effects of President Donald Trump's trade tariff hike tweet on US markets. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 37976.75, down by 299.88 points or 0.78% after trading in a range of 37933.79 and 38248.57. There were 3 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.62%, while Small cap index was down by 0.80%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty down by 2.13%, Energy down by 1.64%, Healthcare down by 0.96%, Telecom down by 0.94% and Consumer Discretionary stocks was down by 0.80%, while there were no gainers on the BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 0.42%, Coal India up by 0.22% and TCS was up by 0.03%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 2.85%, Reliance Industries down by 2.35%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 2.14%, Tata Motors down by 1.73% and ONGC was down by 1.25% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, US Labour Secretary Alexander Acosta told US lawmakers that the Trump administration is proposing a hike in the H-1B visa application fee to raise funds for the expansion of an apprentice programme which trains American youth for technology sector jobs.

However, Acosta did not give details of the proposed increase in H-1B filing fee and as to which categories of applicants it would be enforced on. But given past experience, he felt that IT service companies based in India, which account for a large number of H-1B applications, are likely to face the additional financial burden because of this proposed increase in H-1B filing fees. Acosta also told lawmakers that the Labour Department has made changes to the H-1B application forms to ensure greater transparency and better protect American workers from employers seeking to misuse the programme.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11413.80, down by 84.10 points or 0.73% after trading in a range of 11394.95 and 11479.10. There were 11 stocks advancing against 39 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were UPL up by 1.24%, JSW Steel up by 0.92%, Indian Oil Corporation up by 0.88%, BPCL up by 0.86% and Grasim Industries was up by 0.64%. On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 5.15%, Vedanta down by 3.03%, Reliance Industries down by 2.31%, Tata Motors down by 1.68% and Bajaj Finserv was down by 1.67% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in red; Straits Times declined 32.78 points or 0.99% to 3,279.74, Hang Seng fell 360.56 points or 1.23% to 29,002.46, Taiwan Weighted slipped 63.43 points or 0.58% to 10,923.71, Jakarta Composite fell 50.20 points or 0.80% to 6,247.12, Shanghai Composite decreased 33.02 points or 1.13% to 2,893.37, Nikkei 225 tumbled 321.13 points or 1.46% to 21,602.59 and KOSPI was down by 8.98 points or 0.41% to 2,168.01.