Sensex, Nifty trade under pressure in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made negative start on Monday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday as well as mostly negative cues from Asian markets in early trade, as traders remain cautious and remained reluctant to pick up stocks amid a lack of significant triggers. Traders are looking ahead to the inflation data from Australia and Japan later this week for more directional cues. Closer home, domestic indices -- Sensex and Nifty -- are trading under pressure with cut of around 0.35% each in early deals amid selling in Metal, Basic Materials and Realty counters. Foreign fund outflows dented sentiments. On June 21, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares amounting to Rs 1,790.19 crore. Also, reports of alleged irregularities in investment-related activities by fund managers at Quant Mutual Fund weighted on the trading sentiment. As per sources, Sebi officials last week conducted searches at Quant MF office. 

Traders were concerned as the Reserve Bank said India's forex reserves dropped by $2.922 billion to $652.895 billion for the week ended June 14. In the previous reporting week, the kitty had jumped by $4.307 billion to $655.817 billion, a new all-time high after consecutive weeks of increase in the reserves. On the sectoral front, the e-commerce sector stocks are in focus as in a bid to boost India's e-commerce exports, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) is working with the Department of Revenue to establish designated e-commerce hubs across the country to streamline the process for online export shipments. In stock specific development, Lupin traded higher on VAI status from USFDA for its Somerset manufacturing facility.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 76969.52, down by 240.38 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 76745.94 and 77054.79. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.62%, while Small cap index was up by 0.02%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 0.34%, FMCG up by 0.33%, Capital Goods up by 0.32%, Industrials up by 0.24% and Consumer Durables up by 0.05%, while Metal down by 1.42%, Basic Materials down by 1.04%, Realty down by 0.92%, Energy down by 0.77% and Bankex down by 0.67% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 2.07%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.99%, Power Grid up by 0.80%, TCS up by 0.73% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.55%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 2.93%, Tata Steel down by 2.22%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.45%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.27% and SBI down by 1.26% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to simplify tax compliance and ease the burden on taxpayers, the GST Council at its 53rd meeting has introduced sweeping reforms. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman highlighted the introduction of biometric-based Aadhaar authentication for registration applicants nationwide. This is intended to curb fraudulent registrations and tax evasion. The Council also set monetary limits for appeals, reducing the financial strain on taxpayers.

In a move to foster a more taxpayer-friendly environment, the Council waived interest and penalties for initial demand notices, provided the full tax amount is cleared by March 31, 2025. These measures, alongside anticipated discussions on rate rationalization, underscore the Council's commitment to making tax compliance less cumbersome.

Furthermore, steps were taken to reduce litigation through structured initiatives. Notably, the GST Appellate Tribunals (GSTAT) will now handle cases involving amounts up to Rs 20 lakh, while matters for High Courts and the Supreme Court will have higher thresholds of Rs 1 crore and Rs 2 crore, respectively. These measures are anticipated to expedite judicial processes and provide relief to smaller taxpayers.

In a bid to facilitate easier tax compliance for smaller entities, the GST return filing deadline for GSTR-4 has been extended to June 30. Additionally, modifications have been introduced in GSTR-1, with the introduction of a new form named GSTR-1A, aimed at simplifying the reporting process.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23414.00, down by 87.10 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 23350.00 and 23439.20. There were 9 stocks advancing against 41 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 1.17%, ICICI Bank up by 0.69%, ITC up by 0.42%, TCS up by 0.35% and Hindustan Unilever up by 0.33%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 2.04%, Tata Steel down by 1.39%, JSW Steel down by 1.39%, Indusind Bank down by 1.31% and Maruti Suzuki down by 1.13% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 378.12 points or 1.63% to 22,875.27, Hang Seng declined 183.63 points or 1.02% to 17,844.89, KOSPI dropped 22.01 points or 0.79% to 2,762.25, Shanghai Composite weakened 20.9 points or 0.7% to 2,977.24 and Straits Times fell 1.13 points or 0.03% to 3,304.89. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 surged 253.64 points or 0.66% to 38,850.11 and Jakarta Composite was up by 19.95 points or 0.29% to 6,899.93.