Lackluster trade continues on Dalal Street

Indian equity benchmarks continued their sluggish trade in afternoon session, on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters. Sentiments remained down-beat with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade’s (DPIIT) latest data showing that foreign direct investment (FDI) in India declined for the first time in the last six years in 2018-19, falling by 1 per cent to $44.37 billion as compared to $44.85 billion in 2017-18. Some caution also prevailed in the markets ahead of May derivatives series expiry due tomorrow. However, further losses were restricted as some support came in with a report that India can attract FDI to a ratio of 1.5 percent to 2 percent of its GDP by further improving on ease of doing business and building infrastructure. It also said that the country is in favourable position to attract foreign firms planning to relocate their manufacturing bases due to trade tension between the US and China. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, after US President Donald Trump said that the US was not ready to strike a deal with China. He also said that the tariffs on China could go up substantially.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39645.34, down by 104.39 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 39625.33 and 39767.93. There were 13 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.58%, while Small cap index was down by 0.31%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.96%, TECK up by 0.60%, Healthcare up by 0.18% and FMCG was up by 0.06%, while Metal down by 1.42%, Auto down by 1.34%, PSU down by 1.31%, Industrials down by 1.03% and Telecom was down by 1.00% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.85%, TCS up by 1.78%, HCL Technologies up by 1.53%, Yes Bank up by 0.79% and Infosys was up by 0.52%. On the flip side, SBI down by 3.02%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 2.91%, ONGC down by 2.63%, Vedanta down by 2.34% and Tata Motors was down by 2.27% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Council has constituted two sub-groups to look into the policy and technical aspects like turnover threshold and mode of generation, for e-invoice generation by businesses. One sub-group will examine the business process, policy and legal aspects for generation of e-invoice, while the other will recommend technical aspects for its roll-out. 

The sub-group on policy issues would also suggest some immediate steps to check fake invoices in case of business-to-business (B2B) supplies with a high threshold turnover and also recommend a carve-out for sectors like banking and telecom. Electronic invoice, or e-invoice, has been envisaged by the revenue department to mainly curb GST evasion. The sub-group on policy issues for e-invoice would recommend legal aspects including invoice format, threshold turnover for invoice generation from the portal and immediate steps for 'B2B' supplies with a high threshold turnover. It would also suggest optional treatment for some sectors such as banking, telecom, tentative timeline for execution and phase-wise implementation.

The sub-group on technical issues would suggest mode of generation, like app-based or mobile or SMS or offline and online, data security and system integration. Depending on the success of the project in the B2B segment, the revenue department would look at extending it to B2C sales, especially in sectors where the probability of tax evasion is high.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11901.45, down by 27.30 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 11890.35 and 11931.90. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 2.36%, TCS up by 1.89%, HCL Technologies up by 1.80%, GAIL India up by 1.79% and Wipro was up by 1.78%. On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 3.09%, SBI down by 2.92%, ONGC down by 2.65%, Vedanta down by 2.39% and JSW Steel was down by 2.39% were the top losers.

Most of the Asian markets were trading in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 256.77 points or 1.21% to 21,003.37, Hang Seng decreased 121.78 points or 0.44% to 27,269.03, KOSPI fell 25.51 points or 1.25% to 2,023.32, Taiwan Weighted dropped 10.53 points or 0.1% to 10,301.78 and Straits Times was down by 9.25 points or 0.29% to 3,156.07.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite gained 8.57 points or 0.29% to 2,918.48 and Jakarta Composite was up by 73.12 points or 1.21% to 6,106.26.