Key gauges enter into red terrain in mid-morning trade

Key domestic indices entered into red terrain after a marginally green start as traders turned cautious on 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). Anxiety also remained on the street 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. The Central Water Commission data revealed that as on June 27, of the 91 major reservoirs in the country, 62 water bodies reported 80 per cent or below normal storage.

Weakness in most of the Asian counterparts too dampened sentiments, as investors weighed the tariff truce between the U.S. and China and the potential for a trade deal. Back home, shares of ICRA edged lower, a day after the board of rating agency asked its Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Naresh Takkar to go on indefinite leave, pending an enquiry into concerns raised by the market regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). However, Bharti Airtel gained on completing merger of Tata Tele's consumer mobile businesses and Alembic Pharmaceuticals surged on getting nod from USFDA for Febuxostat Tablets.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39583.26, down by 103.24 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 39551.46 and 39811.68. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index shed 0.22%, while Small cap index was down by 0.22%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.60%, Power up by 0.47%, Utilities up by 0.43%, Energy up by 0.40% and PSU was up by 0.32%, while Realty down by 2.06%, Auto down by 0.74%, Metal down by 0.56%, Healthcare down by 0.54% and Bankex was down by 0.51% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 1.65%, NTPC up by 0.70%, Power Grid Corporation up by 0.56%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.34% and Larsen & Toubro up by 0.21%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 6.00%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 3.30%, Tata Motors down by 2.59%, Sun Pharma down by 2.20% and Hero MotoCorp down by 1.33% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank has released the quarterly house price index (HPI) (base: 2010-11=100) for Q4 of last financial year (Q4FY19), based on transaction data received from housing registration authorities in ten major cities (Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Jaipur, Kanpur, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai). It showed that on a year-on-year basis, the growth in all-India HPI continued to moderate and stood at 3.6 per cent in Q4FY19 as against 5.1 per cent in the previous quarter and 6.7 per cent a year ago.

Barring Jaipur and Kanpur, all the cities recorded an increase in HPI on an annual basis. The annual growth or contraction in HPI ranged from 19.5 per cent (in Kochi) to (-)11.4 per cent (in Jaipur).

Besides, on a year-on-year basis, the all-India HPI had recorded a growth of 5.7% in Q2FY19 as against 5.3% in the previous quarter and 7.4% a year ago. Except Kanpur, all other cities recorded a rise in housing prices on an annual basis. The annual growth/contraction in HPI ranged from 20.8% (in Kochi) to (-) 3.0% (in Kanpur), indicating large divergences in city-wise housing price movements. City-wise, large variance was observed, with Chennai recording the highest rise 6.2% and Kanpur recording the maximum contraction (-) 5.6%.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11840.20, down by 25.40 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 11829.05 and 11892.70. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were UPL up by 2.83%, ONGC up by 1.65%, BPCL up by 1.28%, Coal India up by 1.22% and Wipro up by 1.03%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 5.96%, Tata Motors down by 2.77%, Sun Pharma down by 2.26%, Vedanta down by 1.24% and Hero MotoCorp down by 1.17% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Straits Times declined 18.00 points or 0.53% to 3,356.05, Taiwan Weighted shed 38.42 points or 0.35% to 10,857.04, KOSPI decreased 8.64 points or 0.41% to 2,121.10, Jakarta Composite slipped 3.46 points or 0.05% to 6,376.23 and Shanghai Composite was down by 1.29 points or 0.04% to 3,043.61.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 gained 27.21 points or 0.13% to 21,757.18 and Hang Seng was up by 359.39 points or 1.26% to 28,902.01.