Markets keep head above water in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made a cautious start but managed to keep their head above water in early deals on Tuesday, as traders took some support with report that the eight core sector industries recorded a growth of 5.1 per cent in May on the back of healthy output in steel and electricity. The eight core sector industries - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity - grew by 4.1 per cent in May last year. Steel and electricity output increased by 19.9 per cent and 7.2 per cent, respectively, during the month under review. However, gains remain capped with report that Goods and Services Tax (GST) receipts in June fell to Rs 99,939 crore, down from over Rs 1 trillion in the previous month. The total gross GST revenue collected in the month of June, 2019 was Rs 99,939 crore of which Central-GST was Rs 18,366 crore, State-GST was Rs 25,343 crore, Integrated-GST was Rs 47,772 crore (including Rs 21,980 crore collected on imports) and cess was Rs 8,457 crore (including Rs 876 crore collected on imports).

On the global front, Asian markets are exhibiting mixed trend despite report that the US and China over the weekend agreed to a timeout in their tariff war and agreed to resume trade negotiations. The US markets ended higher on Monday after President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to restart stalled trade negotiations.

Back home, traders remained little cautious with India Meteorological Department’s statement that Monsoon deficiency in June this year was the highest for the month since 2015. The month ended with 33 per cent deficiency which translates to around 67 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA). Several parts of the country have been witnessing drought-like situation. Meanwhile, the MSMEs stocks remained buzzing on report that Govt is working on new credit scheme for MSMEs to encourage job creation.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39709.02, up by 22.52 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 39661.24 and 39811.68. There were 17 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.18%, while Small cap index was up by 0.09%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.78%, Energy up by 0.61%, Utilities up by 0.53%, Power up by 0.47% and PSU was up by 0.34%, while Realty down by 1.10%, Auto down by 0.49%, Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services down by 0.21%, Bankex down by 0.16% and Telecom was down by 0.10% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 1.40%, Indusind Bank up by 0.75%, NTPC up by 0.60%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.47% and Reliance Industries up by 0.45%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 5.63%, Tata Motors down by 1.73%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.59%, Sun Pharma down by 0.94% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.86% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the finance ministry has said that Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection registered at Rs 99,939 crore in the month of June 2019. The growth was sluggish as compared to Rs 1,00,289 crore in May 2019. Though, June collection was higher than Rs 95,610 crore in the same month of the previous year.

The collections comprise of receipts by both the Centre and State governments of GST, which had two years back amalgamated 17 different indirect tax levies.

Out of the total gross GST revenue collected in the month of June, Central-GST was Rs 18,366 crore, State-GST was Rs 25,343 crore, Integrated-GST was Rs 47,772 crore (including Rs 21,980 crore collected on imports) and cess was Rs 8,457 crore (including Rs 876 crore collected on imports).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11868.95, up by 3.35 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 11858.35 and 11892.70. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were UPL up by 1.54%, ONGC up by 1.34%, BPCL up by 1.02%, NTPC up by 0.67% and Adani Ports up by 0.67%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 6.18%, Tata Motors down by 1.85%, Eicher Motors down by 1.17%, Sun Pharma down by 1.17% and Indiabulls Housing down by 0.99% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Straits Times declined 18.00 points or 0.53% to 3,354.26, Taiwan Weighted shed 25.54 points or 0.23% to 10,869.92, KOSPI decreased 5.18 points or 0.24% to 2,124.56 and Shanghai Composite was down by 1.89 points or 0.06% to 3,043.01.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 gained 52.85 points or 0.24% to 21,782.82, Hang Seng surged 386.57 points or 1.35% to 28,929.19 and Jakarta Composite was up by 2.55 points or 0.04% to 6,382.24.