Sensex, Nifty off day’s low in late morning session

Indian equity benchmarks trimmed some of their losses in late morning session, with both Sensex and Nifty now trading off day’s low points. Losses got trimmed, as the GST Council approved changes in tax rates on some goods and services while allowing states to issue an e-way bill for intra-state movement of gold and precious stones. Besides, emphasizing the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector's important role in making India a $5-trillion economy, Union Minister Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma has said that the government will remove all the barriers in credit flow to this sector. He said that the government was also committed to develop a better system of redressal and debt facilities. However, markets remained in red, on the back of negative cues from other Asian markets.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, even after the value of retail sales in Japan was up 3.6 percent on year in May, coming in at 12.388 trillion yen. That exceeded expectations for an increase of 3.3 percent following the upwardly revised 3.1 percent increase in April (originally 3.0 percent).

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52997.08, down by 180.37 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 52612.68 and 53025.39. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.77%, while Small cap index was up by 0.10%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 0.66%, Utilities up by 0.62%, Oil & Gas up by 0.60%, Power up by 0.46% and Realty up by 0.12%, while FMCG down by 1.02%, Bankex down by 1.01%, Consumer Durables down by 0.76%, Healthcare down by 0.50% and PSU down by 0.47% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 1.17%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.89%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.22%, Sun Pharma up by 0.11% and Tata Steel up by 0.11%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 2.54%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.51%, Titan Co down by 1.89%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.33% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.31% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, emphasising the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector's important role in making India a $5-trillion economy, Union Minister Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma has said that the government will remove all the barriers in credit flow to this sector. He said that the government was also committed to develop a better system of redressal and debt facilities.

The minister said the MSME sector is being developed as a new engine of growth in the country and modernised through innovation and will be more competitive. He said that the export business from the MSME sector is continuously increasing with the contribution to the country's exports now touching almost 50 per cent.

He stated that MSME sector also accounts for about 30 per cent of the country's GDP. He said ‘in such a situation, the role of our MSME sector becomes important in strengthening India's position in the global trade.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15784.30, down by 65.90 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 15687.80 and 15800.25. There were 11 stocks advancing against 39 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Reliance Industries up by 1.15%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.88%, Grasim Industries up by 0.58%, Tata Motors up by 0.29% and Shree Cement up by 0.26%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 3.26%, Indusind Bank down by 2.49%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.40%, Titan Co down by 1.91% and Cipla down by 1.88% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 365.11 points or 1.63% to 22,053.86, Nikkei 225 slipped 307.15 points or 1.14% to 26,742.32, Taiwan Weighted dropped 181.06 points or 1.17% to 15,258.86, KOSPI fell 35.40 points or 1.46% to 2,386.69, Shanghai Composite declined 26.16 points or 0.77% to 3,383.05 and Jakarta Composite lost 17.76 points or 0.25% to 6,978.70. On the flip side, Straits Times advanced 11.49 points or 0.37% to 3,151.70.