Benchmarks slip further; Nifty below 10,950 mark

Indian bourses slipped further to trade at day’s low points in the afternoon session, with the Sensex losing over 350 points and Nifty falling below the 10,950 level, ahead of Futures and Options (F&O) derivative expiry for August series. The mood on the street remained cautious with a private report stated that the Indian economy likely expanded at its slowest pace in more than five years in the April-June quarter, driven by weak investment growth and sluggish demand. Investors also remained on sidelines ahead of gross domestic product (GDP) data for the quarter ended June 30 due tomorrow. Investors ignored report that the government relaxed foreign direct investment (FDI) rule for foreign single-brand retailers and also permitted foreign investment in contract manufacturing and coal mining to boost the ailing economy.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, as geopolitical tensions and the inverted U.S. Treasury yield curve weighed on investors concerned about a global economic slowdown. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 37084.36, down by 367.48 points or 0.98% after trading in a range of 37064.66 and 37381.80. There were 6 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.82%, while Small cap index was down by 0.87%.

The only gaining sectoral index on the BSE was IT up by 0.04%, while Bankex down by 1.81%, Basic Materials down by 1.32%, PSU down by 1.18%, Industrials down by 1.04% and Power was down by 0.94% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 2.82%, Vedanta up by 1.29%, Infosys up by 0.55%, ONGC up by 0.41% and Bajaj Auto was up by 0.03%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 7.06%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 3.54%, ICICI Bank down by 2.92%, SBI down by 2.77% and Tata Motors was  down by 2.75% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has said that the government has notified 63 provisions of the Motor Vehicles Amendment Act 2019, which includes higher penalties for traffic violation. The new clauses will come into effect from September 1, 2019. These are provisions which require no further amendments in the Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989.

For the remaining clauses, the Ministry has initiated the process of formulating draft rules. As and when the process is completed, the relevant provisions would be notified for implementation. The 63 clauses deal with penalties, licences, registration and National Transport Policy, among others. Under the new regulation, people will be charged enhanced penalty between Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 for unauthorised use of vehicles without licence. Besides, the penalty for driving without license would go up from up to Rs 500 to Rs 5,000.

The new rules also enhance penalty for drunken driving to imprisonment up to 6 months and/or fine up to Rs 10,000 for first offence and imprisonment up to 2 years and/or fine of Rs 15,000 for second offence. Besides, the new rules enable state governments to designate any person/agency as the enforcement agency to detect and impose penalty on overloaded vehicles.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10933.90, down by 112.20 points or 1.02% after trading in a range of 10931.85 and 11020.15. There were 8 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 2.52%, Eicher Motors up by 1.55%, Bharti Infratel up by 1.49%, Vedanta up by 1.28% and Coal India was up by 0.70%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 7.23%, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 6.22%, ICICI Bank down by 2.92%, SBI down by 2.77% and Tata Motors was down by 2.58% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Hang Seng decreased 75.29 points or 0.29% to 25,540.19, Nikkei 225 slipped 18.49 points or 0.09% to 20,460.93, KOSPI fell 7.68 points or 0.4% to 1,933.41 and Shanghai Composite was down by 2.54 points or 0.09% to 2,891.22.

On the other hand, Jakarta Composite soared 6.46 points or 0.1% to 6,288.11, Straits Times advanced 8.53 points or 0.28% to 3,065.00 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 28.14 points or 0.27% to 10,462.43.