Benchmarks trade lower with cut of over quarter a percent

Domestic stock markets were trading lower with cut of over quarter a percent in morning deals amid mixed cues from global markets. Depreciation in Indian rupee against dollar weighed down sentiments. Rupee weakened by 10 paise to 79.04 against the dollar in trade at the Inter-bank Foreign Exchange market on account of increased demand for the American currency from importers and banks. Further, sentiments remained cautious with continued FIIs selling. In June, FPIs sold equity worth Rs 50,145 crore through the stock market, taking the total FPI selling in CY 22 to Rs 2,23,944 crore. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower despite the broadly positive cues from the Wall Street on Friday, as traders remain concerned about a global recession as major central banks signaled their intent to move ahead with aggressive rate hikes to tame surging inflation. Back home, traders were seen pilling up position in FMCG, Bankex, Capital Goods, Consumer Disc and Industrials, while selling was witnessed Metal, Basic Materials, IT, Energy and TECK.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52760.70, down by 147.23 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 52674.81 and 53067.49. There were 10 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.02%, while Small cap index up by 0.11%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 0.72%, Bankex up by 0.17%, Capital Goods up by 0.13%, Consumer Disc up by 0.04% and Industrials up by 0.02%, while Metal down by 3.16%, Basic Materials down by 0.94%, IT down by 0.85%, Energy down by 0.83% and TECK down by 0.79% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 3.10%, Power Grid Corp up by 1.57%, ITC up by 1.55%, ICICI Bank up by 0.70% and SBI up by 0.63%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 3.20%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.87%, TCS down by 1.59%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.27% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.02% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, stating that the GST had serious birth defects which became only worse over the last five years, former finance minister P Chidambaram has said the GST laws and the manner of their implementation have wrecked the economy. He stated demonetisation was the first Tughlaqi farman of the government while the Goods and Service Tax second that harmed the economy.

He mentioned ‘The GST that we have today is a complex web of many rates, conditions, exceptions and exemptions that will leave even an informed taxpayer completely bewildered. Not all registered dealers are informed taxpayers; as a result, they are at the mercy of the tax-collector.’

He said a flawed GST has led to large-scale destruction of MSMEs, a sector that contributes up to 90 per cent of the jobs in the manufacturing sector. He also said the worst consequence of the GST brought in by the government has been a complete breakdown of trust between the Centre and states.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15690.40, down by 61.65 points or 0.39% after trading in a range of 15661.80 and 15797.45. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 3.03%, Power Grid Corp up by 1.45%, ITC up by 1.42%, HCL Tech. up by 0.86% and ICICI Bank up by 0.73%. On the flip side, JSW Steel down by 5.60%, Hindalco down by 3.77%, ONGC down by 3.32%, Tata Steel down by 3.02% and Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.79% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly lower; Jakarta Composite was down by 171.88 points or 2.53% to 6,622.45, Hang Seng slipped 129.25 points or 0.59% to 21,730.54, Taiwan Weighted lost 143.98 points or 1.00% to 14,199.10 and KOSPI fell 20.92 points or 0.91% to 2,284.50. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 rose 164.08 points or 0.63% to 26,099.70, Straits Times gained 27.06 points or 0.87% to 3,122.65 and Shanghai Composite was up by 4.58 points or 0.14% to 3,392.22.