Post Session: Quick Review

Buying activity which took place during late hour of trade mainly helped the markets to cut all of their losses and to end Friday’s session slightly in green. Markets opened with heavy losses on weak global cues. Traders remained concerned with the World Bank report showing that India has now taken a backseat to be the seventh largest economy globally with UK and France now ahead of it. As per the data, India grew to $2.73 trillion economy in 2018. In 2017, the country stood at the fifth spot with its size at $2.65 trillion. Investors took note of a report that the overall goods and services tax (GST) collections in July came in at Rs 1.02 lakh crore, a bit higher than Rs 99,939 crore collected in June, but significantly lower than Rs 1.13 lakh crore garnered in April.

However, local barometer gauges wiped off early losses to trade in the positive zone in late session, as sentiments turned optimistic with the India Meteorological Department’s statement that monsoon is expected to be normal in August and September. Quantitatively, the rainfall across the country as a whole during the two-month period is likely to be 100 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a model error of plus or minus 8 per cent.  Some support also came with S&P Global Ratings’ report that India is a relatively closed economy and is less reliant on manufacturing for growth which explains why it continues to perform well. It is currently on a soft path but it will outperform in relative terms.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly lower on Friday, while European markets were trading in red, followed by heavy selling pressure after a surprise tariff announcement from the United States overnight escalated trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. Back home, stocks related to insurance sector were in focus with CARE Ratings’ statement that domestic life insurance industry is likely to grow at 14 percent to 15 percent per annum.  

The BSE Sensex ended at 37104.06, up by 85.74 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 36607.41 and 37375.16. There were 17 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.12%, while Small cap index was down by 0.47%.(Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 3.97%, Auto up by 1.11%, TECK up by 0.92%, Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services up by 0.83% and Consumer Durables up by 0.71%, while Metal down by 2.13%, PSU down by 1.74%, Power down by 1.22%, Realty down by 1.00% and Utilities down by 0.93% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 6.50%, Asian Paints up by 2.74%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.22%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.18% and Tech Mahindra up by 2.10%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.97%, SBI down by 2.70%, Vedanta down by 2.06%, ICICI Bank down by 1.77% and NTPC down by 1.74% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, after falling to below the Rs 1 lakh crore mark in June for the first time in the current fiscal (FY20), the gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections increased to Rs 1.02 lakh crore in the month of July 2019. The July mop-up was 5.8 per cent higher than the Rs 96,483 crore collected in the same month last year. In June 2019, the GST collection was Rs 99,939 crore.

Out of the total revenue collection of Rs 1,02,083 crore, Central GST collections stood at Rs 17,912 crore, State GST Rs 25,008 crore, and Integrated GST Rs 50,612 crore (including Rs 24,246 crore collected on imports) during July this year. Besides, cess collection stood at Rs 8,551 crore (including Rs 797 crore collected on imports).

The number of GSTR 3B Returns (summary of self-assessed return) filed for the month of June up to end-July totalled 75.79 lakh. As per the data, Rs 17,789 crore has been released to the states as GST compensation for April-May, 2019. Moreover, the gross GST collections during April-July stood at Rs 4,16,176 crore, up from Rs 3,89,568 crore in the corresponding period of the last fiscal.

The CNX Nifty ended at 11001.95, up by 21.95 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 10848.95 and 11080.15. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 6.99%, Asian Paints up by 2.88%, Eicher Motors up by 2.53%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.48% and Maruti Suzuki up by 2.47%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 8.59%, Tata Steel down by 2.99%, SBI down by 2.92%, Coal India down by 2.74% and Wipro down by 2.46% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 145.48 points or 1.92% to 7,439.39, France’s CAC fell 156.76 points or 2.82% to 5,400.65 and Germany’s DAX was down by 319.41 points or 2.61% to 11,933.74.

Asian markets ended mostly lower on Friday, followed by heavy selling pressure after a surprise tariff announcement from the United States overnight escalated trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. US President Donald Trump said Thursday that the US is putting 10% tariffs on another $300 billion worth of Chinese goods starting September 1. Japanese shares closed down as US-China trade tensions flared up once again, raising fresh concerns about the outlook for the global economy. Further, Seoul shares declined sharply amid Japan's decision to remove South Korea from a list of countries that enjoy minimum export controls.