Local bourses continue to trade with modest losses

Indian benchmark indices continued to trade with modest losses in afternoon session, on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters. Sentiments remained dampened with Former finance secretary Subhash Garg’s statement that India's real fiscal deficit in FY20 is likely to be higher at 4.5-5% of GDP due to an expected shortfall in revenue, and higher spending. Investors also remained cautious ahead of important December quarter earnings. However, losses remained capped as some support came with NITI Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar’s statement that the government is likely to take more measures to deal with the problem of financial sector. On the sectoral front, sugar stocks remained in focus with a private report that the improvement in average sugar prices by close to Rs 2/kg to Rs 32.5-33.0/kg in 9M FY2020 y-o-y, along with the non-increase in the cane price for sugar season, SY2020 is expected to support the profitability of the sugar mills in the near term.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red after the United States and China ended some uncertainties for the world economy by signing a partial trade agreement. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 41812.99, down by 59.74 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 41812.28 and 42059.45. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.53%, while Small cap index was up by 0.57%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.06%, Healthcare up by 0.63%, FMCG up by 0.58%, Realty up by 0.52% and Industrials was up by 0.24%, while Metal down by 1.51%, PSU down by 0.59%, Basic Materials down by 0.55%, Oil & Gas down by 0.50% and IT was down by 0.34% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Nestle up by 2.72%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.48%, Power Grid up by 1.21%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.91% and Sun Pharma was up by 0.57%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.94%, Tata Steel down by 1.67%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.55%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.31% and Axis Bank was down by 0.98% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, worried over rise in imports in the 'others' category, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has requested those importers to seek HSN code (Harmonised System of Nomenclature) or tariff code within 30 days from the foreign trade office, failing which the government would impose strong restrictions on their inbound shipments. He noted that in trade parlance, each product is categorised under an HSN code and it helps in systematic classification of goods across the globe.

The minister has stated that of $500 billion value of imports in 2018-19, the others’ group accounted for more than $100 billion. He said importers will have to approach the ministry to take a special licence for that import without which they cannot import any product in the others category. He also said ‘we will start the process to create a separate HSN code if it is not fitting into any existing code or amend the existing code... Very soon, I shall be coming out with serious consequences. The consequences could be a higher duty on products which come under others category.’

Goyal also asked the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to bring a trade notice immediately and make it an absolute ultimatum either the import duty will be increased exorbitantly or a special duty imposed. He said this step will help the government assess what is being imported into the country. He pointed out that no imports will be allowed without the HSN code into the country, henceforth, there must be zero tolerance for substandard products and services from industry and consumers.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12326.40, down by 16.90 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 12315.80 and 12389.05. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors up by 3.97%, Nestle up by 2.69%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.53%, Power Grid up by 1.36% and Zee Entertainment was up by 0.95%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 2.00%, NTPC down by 1.98%, JSW Steel down by 1.68%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.67% and Coal India was down by 1.67% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted dropped 24.95 points or 0.21% to 12,066.93, Shanghai Composite declined 16.19 points or 0.52% to 3,073.85, Jakarta Composite lost 10.83 points or 0.17% to 6,272.54 and Hang Seng was down by 6.02 points or 0.02% to 28,767.57.

On the flip side, Straits Times advanced 14.76 points or 0.45% to 3,271.74, Nikkei 225 surged 16.55 points or 0.07% to 23,933.13 and KOSPI was up by 17.07 points or 0.77% to 2,248.05.