Benchmarks continue to trade in red in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in red in morning deals, dragged by Realty, Metal and Consumer Durables stocks amid tepid global cues, and tracking a fall in US equities. Traders remained cautious as exchange data showed Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,877.84 crore. However, losses remain capped with data released by S&P Global showing that India's services activity spiked sharply to 62.3 in July from a Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) of 58.5 in June. At 62.3, the July services PMI is the highest print in over 13 years. The last time it was higher was in June 2010. It has also stayed above the key level of 50 that separates expansion in activity from a contraction for 24 months in a row. Meanwhile, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has decided to implement a 28 per cent tax on electronic gaming, casinos, and horse racing, but this would be applied on the initial amount paid upon entry, and not on the total value of each bet placed. The proposed amendments are likely to be introduced from October 1, with a comprehensive review to be conducted six months after implementation. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red after Fitch downgraded US sovereign debt sparking profit-taking, with investors now shifting focus to Bank of England's rate decision and earnings from Apple and Amazon. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65589.67, down by 193.11 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 65482.79 and 65820.82. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.04%, while Small cap index was up by 0.02%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.17%, Auto up by 0.26%, Capital Goods up by 0.04%, Industrials up by 0.03% and FMCG up by 0.02%, while Realty down by 1.91%, Metal down by 1.45%, Consumer Durables down by 1.42%, Oil & Gas down by 0.56% and Bankex down by 0.50% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 2.13%, NTPC up by 1.39%, ITC up by 0.53%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.20% and Tata Motors up by 0.05%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 2.63%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.32%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.18%, SBI down by 1.08% and TCS down by 1.06% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has said pharmaceutical companies having an annual turnover of over Rs 250 crore will have to mandatorily adopt Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) within six months. The minister said while those with a turnover of less than Rs 250 crore will have to do so in a 12-month time. He added those who fail to follow the timelines may be penalised as per the provisions of the law.

Further, he said that the draft of Schedule M of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act prepared in 2018 has been approved and implemented. Existing schedule M under the Drugs Rules, 1945 prescribes details of requirements of facilities and their maintenance, personnel, manufacture, control and safety testing, storage and transport of material, written procedures, written records, traceability, etc. The GMP was first incorporated in Schedule M in 1988 and the last amendment was done in 2018. The Schedule M (of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act) has not been implemented properly by the majority of the drugmakers.  

Moreover, he said there are around 10,500 manufacturing units in the country out of which around 8,500 units fall under the MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) category. India is a major exporter of medicines to LMIC (Low and Middle-Income Countries) which require WHO GMP certification. There are around 2,000 units in the MSME category in the country having WHO GMP certification.

Besides, he stated ‘Pharmaceutical manufacturing and quality domain has developed significantly in last 15-20 years. Our understanding of the domain has increased because of development in Pharmaceutical and Manufacturing Sciences. Linkage between manufacturing and product quality and interdependence between the two has been established.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19479.00, down by 47.55 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 19439.05 and 19537.65. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 2.13%, NTPC up by 1.37%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.31%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.07% and Eicher Motors up by 0.93%. On the flip side, UPL down by 2.91%, Titan Company down by 2.59%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.44%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.32% and Hindalco down by 1.25% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 461.6 points or 1.41% to 32,246.09; Hang Seng declined 11.27 points or 0.06% to 19,506.11, Shanghai Composite weakened 5.81 points or 0.18% to 3,255.88 and KOSPI dropped 13.32 points or 0.51% to 2,603.15.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite gained 40.75 points or 0.59% to 6,895.26 and Straits Times fell 2.21 points or 0.07% to 3,322.81.