Weak trade persists on Dalal Street

Weak trade continued in morning session, with both the larger peers, Sensex and Nifty plunging more than 490 and 150 points, respectively, amid unfavourable global cues. Sentiments remained down-beat with report stating that India’s services trade surplus fell to $36.4 billion in the April-June quarter of 2023-24, the lowest in three quarters, as services export growth slowed down amid the economic downturn in developed economies.  Anxiety remained among traders with exchange data showing that Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 92.85 crore on Tuesday. Traders overlooked the finance ministry’s statement that Gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection rose 11 per cent to over Rs 1.65 lakh crore in July 2023 compared to the same month last year, crossing the Rs 1.6 lakh crore mark for the fifth time since the rollout of the indirect tax regime. 

On the global front, Asian markets are trading lower following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders react to data that showed a slowdown in global manufacturing activity in July, including in China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam, raising fresh concerns about Asia's fragile economic recovery. Reports also showed a slowdown in manufacturing activity in the U.S., Europe and the U.K. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65965.97, down by 493.34 points or 0.74% after trading in a range of 65958.42 and 66261.97. There were 1 stock advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.60%, while Small cap index was down by 0.03%.

The lone gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Realty up by 0.50%, while Metal down by 1.39%, Utilities down by 0.91%, Power down by 0.88%, Oil & Gas down by 0.86% and Bankex down by 0.85% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainer on the Sensex was Asian Paints up by 0.36%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.44%, Tata Motors down by 1.71%, NTPC down by 1.67%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.48% and Axis Bank down by 1.22% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the finance ministry has said that Gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection rose 11 per cent to over Rs 1.65 lakh crore in July 2023 compared to the same month last year, crossing the Rs 1.6 lakh crore mark for the fifth time since the rollout of the indirect tax regime. 

It stated that Gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue collected last month was Rs 1,65,105 crore of which CGST was Rs 29,773 crore, SGST was Rs 37,623 crore, IGST was Rs 85,930 crore (including Rs 41,239 crore collected on import of goods) and cess was Rs 11,779 crore (including Rs 840 crore collected on import of goods).

Besides, it said during the month, revenues from domestic transactions (including import of services) were 15 per cent higher than revenues from these sources during the same month last year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19575.25, down by 158.30 points or 0.80% after trading in a range of 19573.30 and 19678.25. There were 4 stocks advancing against 46 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Divi's Lab up by 0.90%, Asian Paints up by 0.24%, Adani Enterprises up by 0.24% and Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.13%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.56%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.14%, Tata Consumer Product down by 1.98%, Tata Motors down by 1.79% and NTPC down by 1.73% were the top losers.

All Asian markets are trading lower; Taiwan Weighted lost 334.05 points or 1.94% to 16,878.82, Hang Seng declined 397.61 points or 2.03% to 19,613.51, Shanghai Composite weakened 27.75 points or 0.85% to 3,263.20, KOSPI dropped 49.17 points or 1.84% to 2,617.90, Jakarta Composite plunged 36.72 points or 0.53% to 6,849.78, Straits Times fell 30.78 points or 0.91% to 3,343.01 and Nikkei 225 slipped 810.9 points or 2.42% to 32,665.68.