Key gauges extend losses in morning deals

Indian equity markets extended losses in morning deals, with frontline gauges tumbling below their crucial 57,900 (Sensex) and 17,250 (Nifty) levels on negative global cues. Sentiments remained dampened as private report stated that the Reserve Bank of India will deliver two more rate increases with the first of 25-30 bps later this week. Traders overlooked finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that India’s macroeconomic fundamentals are intact and there is no risk of the economy entering into recession or stagflation. She said the government is trying to keep inflation below 7%. On the sectoral front, power stocks remained in watch as power ministry data has showed that India's power consumption grew marginally by 3.8 per cent year-on-year to 128.38 billion units (BU) in July 2022 amid widespread rains across the country in July with the onset of the Monsoon.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading lower following the mildly negative cues from global markets overnight, amid sinking oil prices, concerns over slowing growth and the rising tension between China and the U.S over Taiwan visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Lingering concerns about the outlook for the economy, inflation and interest rates also weighed on sentiment.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57812.94, down by 302.56 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 57744.70 and 58147.04. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.08%, while Small cap index was up by 0.11%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 0.75%, Utilities up by 0.55%, FMCG up by 0.51%, PSU up by 0.41% and Consumer Durables up by 0.11%, while Metal down by 1.54%, TECK down by 0.81%, Basic Materials down by 0.78%, Capital Goods down by 0.76% and Realty down by 0.70% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 1.01%, Indusind Bank up by 0.84%, ITC up by 0.78%, Asian Paints up by 0.76% and Hindustan Unilever up by 0.63%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.05%, HDFC down by 1.83%, Tata Steel down by 1.52%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.36% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.31% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the finance ministry has said GST collection rose 28 per cent to touch the second-highest level of Rs 1.49 lakh crore in July 2022 on the back of economic recovery and steps taken to curb tax evasion. Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection stood at Rs 1,16,393 crore in the same month a year ago. GST, introduced in July 2017, touched a record high of Rs 1.68 lakh crore in April, 2022.

It stated that of the Rs 1,48,995 crore GST collected in July, Central GST is Rs 25,751 crore, State GST is Rs 32,807 crore, Integrated GST is Rs 79,518 crore (including Rs 41,420 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 10,920 crore (including Rs 995 crore collected on import of goods).  The government has settled Rs 32,365 crore to CGST and Rs 26,774 crore to SGST from IGST. The total revenue of Centre and the States in the month of July 2022 after regular settlement is Rs 58,116 crore for CGST and Rs 59,581 crore for the SGST.

It mentioned that this is the sixth time that the monthly GST collection crossed the Rs 1.40-lakh-crore mark since the inception of GST and fifth month at a stretch since March 2022. During July, revenues from import of goods were 48 per cent higher and the revenues from domestic transactions (including import of services) were 22 per cent higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17240.95, down by 99.10 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 17215.85 and 17331.35. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 0.98%, SBI up by 0.94%, Tata Consumer Products up by 0.92%, Divi's Lab up by 0.88% and ITC up by 0.86%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 3.46%, UPL down by 3.25%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.32%, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.07% and ONGC down by 2.02% were the top losers.

All Asian markets are trading lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 384.69 points or 1.37% to 27,608.66, Straits Times trembled 5.13 points or 0.16% to 3,233.62, Jakarta Composite lost 35.78 points or 0.51% to 6,933.00, Shanghai Composite declined 93.37 points or 2.86% to 3,166.59, KOSPI fell 14.70 points or 0.6% to 2,437.55, Taiwan Weighted dropped 289.82 points or 1.93% to 14,691.87 and Hang Seng decreased 545.98 points or 2.71% to 19,619.86.