Local equities trade marginally lower in late afternoon session

Local equities traded marginally lower in late afternoon session despite positive global cues. Traders were cautious even after SBI Ecowrap in its latest report has showed that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections are likely to be 10-month high of Rs 1.08 lakh crore in November as compared to Rs 1.05 lakh crore in October 2020. According to the report, the November 2020 collections will be very close to January 2020 collections (Rs 1.10 lakh crore). It said that the continued improvement in GST is mainly due to traction in economic activities and services in festive month of November. On the global front, all Asian markets are trading higher heading into the weekend on a strong note with investors continuing to take heart from the prospect of vaccines being rolled out in the next few weeks. European markets were trading mostly in green.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 44224.59, down by 35.15 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 44071.61 and 44407.28. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 1.81%, while Small cap index was up by 1.71%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.17%, Auto up by 2.08%, Consumer Durables up by 1.87%, Utilities up by 1.84% and Consumer Discretionary was up by 1.49%, while IT down by 0.43%, TECK down by 0.37%, Energy down by 0.23% and Telecom was down by 0.17% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Auto up by 2.91%, Asian Paints up by 1.58%, Titan Company up by 1.55%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.20% and Tata Steel up by 1.16%. On the flip side, Power Grid by 1.49%, TCS down by 1.35%, HCL Tech down by 1.32%, ONGC down by 1.12% and Ultratech Cement down by 1.06% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, amid improved economic activities, the SBI Ecowrap in its latest report has showed that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections are likely to be 10-month high of Rs 1.08 lakh crore in November as compared to Rs 1.05 lakh crore in October 2020.

According to the report, the November 2020 collections will be very close to January 2020 collections (Rs 1.10 lakh crore). It said that the continued improvement in GST is mainly due to traction in economic activities and services in festive month of November.

Besides, the yearly SBI Composite Index has now reached a 19-month high of 53.9 (Moderate Growth) in November 2020, compared to 53.0 (Moderate Growth) in October 2020, and 50.8 (Low Growth) in November 2019. Further, the monthly index touched the all-time high of 62.1 (High Growth) in November, compared to 59.3 (High Growth) in October and 49.96 (Low Growth) in November.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12969.25, down by 17.75 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 12945.20 and 13035.30. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 4.46%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.49%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.01%, Britannia up by 1.69% and Titan Company up by 1.55%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 2.17%, Power Grid down by 1.47%, TCS down by 1.46%, HCL Tech down by 1.37% and JSW Steel down by 1.32% were the top losers.

All Asian markets are trading higher, Nikkei 225 surged 107.40 points or 0.4% to 26,644.71, Hang Seng increased 75.23 points or 0.28% to 26,894.68, Shanghai Composite gained 38.58 points or 1.14% to 3,408.31, Jakarta Composite soared 23.42 points or 0.41% to 5,783.34, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 21.43 points or 0.15% to 13,867.09, KOSPI rose 7.54 points or 0.29% to 2,633.45 and Straits Times was up by 6.89 points or 0.24% to 2,864.37.

European markets were trading mostly in green, France’s CAC increased 9.33 points or 0.17% to 5,576.12, Germany’s DAX increased 23.64 points or 0.18% to 13,310.21. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 59.49 points or 0.93% to 6,303.44.