Markets at day's low on incremental selling pressure

Continuing its negative momentum, the local equity markets were now trading at day’s low points in afternoon session, on the back of sustained selling activities by market-participants. Sentiment on the street further weakened with Moody's statement that there are risks of India missing 3.3 percent fiscal deficit target for the current financial year if tax revenue falls short of the projection. The Budget 2019-20 lowered fiscal deficit projection for the current financial year to 3.3 percent from 3.4 percent targeted in the Interim Budget 2019-20 in February. A major selloff in global equities coupled with rupee’s depreciation against the dollar also pulled the indices deep into the red. Investors paid no heed towards S&P Global Ratings stating that the proposed Rs 70,000-crore capital infusion into public sector banks (PSBs) will provide a timely booster to these lenders. It said the move, announced in the Budget, is likely to be credit positive for the banking sector and the economy.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red, after a blockbuster US jobs report dashed hopes that the Federal Reserve would slash interest rates this month. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38886.78, down by 626.61 points or 1.59% after trading in a range of 38848.54 and 39476.38. There were 4 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 1.60%, while Small cap index was down by 2.16%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU down by 3.44%, Realty down by 3.23%, Capital Goods down by 3.12%, Auto down by 2.86% and Industrials was down by 2.61%, while there were no gainers on the BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 5.56%, HCL Technologies up by 1.81%, TCS up by 0.64% and Reliance Industries was up by 0.25%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 7.18%, Maruti Suzuki down by 4.91%, ONGC down by 4.53%, Hero MotoCorp down by 4.34% and SBI was down by 3.91% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Nasscom Executive Council member Kunal Bahl has said that the various startup friendly initiatives announced by the government as part of Budget will help facilitate funding and lessen the regulatory and tax compliance burden on these fledgling enterprises. To spur startup growth in India, the government has proposed a slew of incentives, including a special arrangement for resolution of pending assessments of income tax cases. 

Bahl has noted that doing away with the scrutiny of valuation of documentation on angel tax is an excellent step that will help facilitate funding. With this Budget, he believed that startups can expect lesser regulatory requirement, besides reducing their tax compliance burden. In addition, he said it will also encourage newer startups, especially from tier II and III areas, and in parallel infuse considerable foreign investments in India.

Nasscom Executive Council member has pointed out that the startup ecosystem in India has long been reeling from three challenges -- high credit cost, lack of adequate and timely funding. He said Nasscom has always been advocating the needs for startups and emerging entrepreneurs in the country and will continue our support to the government in fulfilling the collective dream of enabling India to become a more vibrant startup hub.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11617.50, down by 193.65 points or 1.64% after trading in a range of 11601.50 and 11771.90. There were 7 stocks advancing against 43 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 5.73%, HCL Technologies up by 1.83%, Bharti Infratel up by 0.88%, TCS up by 0.58% and UPL was up by 0.21%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 7.10%, Maruti Suzuki down by 4.87%, ONGC down by 4.77%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 4.43% and Hero MotoCorp was down by 4.23% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 212.03 points or 0.98% to 21,534.35, Taiwan Weighted dropped 34.51 points or 0.32% to 10,751.22, Shanghai Composite declined 69.15 points or 2.3% to 2,941.91, KOSPI fell 46.42 points or 2.2% to 2,064.17, Straits Times trembled 44.81 points or 1.33% to 3,322.00, Jakarta Composite lost 34.10 points or 0.54% to 6,339.38 and Hang Seng decreased 542.69 points or 1.89% to 28,232.14.