Sensex, Nifty remain under pressure

Indian equity benchmarks remained under pressure in late afternoon session, despite firm opening of European markets. Traders remained worried with Fitch Ratings’ statement that the steep cut in tax paid by companies may stimulate investments and economic growth only in the medium term, but it will lead to breach fiscal targets in the current fiscal itself. The street paid no heed towards IHS Markit’s report that the steepest ever cut in tax that companies pay will improve relative competitiveness of India and should help boost corporate investment over the medium-term.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, as France's consumer price inflation slowed in September on energy and food prices. The preliminary data from the statistical office Insee showed that consumer price inflation slowed to 0.9 percent in September from 1 percent in August. The rate was expected to remain unchanged at 1 percent. However, Asian markets were trading in red.

Back home, banking stocks were in watch, after data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed that bank credit and deposits grew at 10.26 percent and 10.02 percent to Rs 97.01 lakh crore and Rs 127.22 lakh crore, respectively, in the fortnight ended September 13, 2019.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38835.36, down by 154.38 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 38797.02 and 39107.37. There were 8 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.27%, while Small cap index was down by 0.55%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 0.13%, FMCG up by 0.04%, Energy up by 0.03% and Consumer Durables up by 0.02%, while Metal down by 2.74%, Realty down by 2.03%, Auto down by 1.44%, Basic Materials down by 1.25% and Healthcare down by 1.19% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 1.22%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.15%, Reliance Industries up by 0.88%, NTPC up by 0.60% and HDFC Bank up by 0.45%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 5.27%, ONGC down by 3.87%, Tata Steel down by 3.82%, Tata Motors down by 3.78% and Tata Motors - DVR down by 3.26% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, bank credit at scheduled commercial banks has gone up by 10.26 per cent on year-on-year basis. According to the fortnightly data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), credit stood at Rs 97.01 lakh crore in the fortnight ended September 13, 2019 as compared with Rs 87.98 lakh crore reported in the fortnight ended September 14, 2018.

The report further showed that bank credit at all scheduled banks also witnessed a growth to stand at Rs 99.84 lakh crore as against Rs 90.59 lakh crore.  Besides, in line with credit growth, the deposits also jumped at both scheduled commercial banks and all scheduled banks.

As per RBI data report, the deposits at scheduled commercial banks surged to Rs 127.22 lakh crore from Rs 115.63 lakh crore in the fortnight ended September 13, 2019, while at all scheduled banks, deposits grew to  Rs 130.68 lakh crore in the same fortnight.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11505.45, down by 65.75 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 11499.75 and 11593.60. There were 10 stocks advancing against 40 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ITC up by 1.06%, Cipla up by 1.04%, Bajaj Finance up by 0.80%, Bajaj Finserv up by 0.80% and NTPC up by 0.73%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 5.51%, Zee Entertainment down by 4.22%, Tata Motors down by 4.18%, Tata Steel down by 4.13% and ONGC down by 4.01% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 54.71 points or 0.21% to 25,987.22, Jakarta Composite lost 28.16 points or 0.45% to 6,202.17, Nikkei 225 slipped 169.34 points or 0.77% to 21,878.90, KOSPI fell 24.59 points or 1.19% to 2,049.93, Straits Times trembled 6.72 points or 0.21% to 3,119.09 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 42.31 points or 0.39% to 10,829.68. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was up by 4.27 points or 0.15% to 2,933.36.

All European markets were trading in green; CAC gained 12.62 points or 0.22% to 5,633.19, DAX surged 67.66 points or 0.55% to 12,356.20 and FTSE was up by 69.08 points or 0.94% to 7,420.16.