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Sensex, Nifty trade flat in early deals
Aug-20-2025

Indian equity benchmarks made a negative start on Wednesday tracking weakness in global peers and as investors grappled with U.S.-India trade frictions. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed some of the 'richest families in India' are involved in the country's ‘unacceptable’ ‘profiteering’ from buying and reselling Russian crude, while reiterating plans to boost tariffs on the South Asian nation. Now, Sensex and Nifty soon are trading flat in early deals. Some support came as S&P Global Ratings Director YeeFarn Phua said that the proposed 2-tier GST structure could lower effective taxation rate and boost fiscal revenues over the longer term.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly lower, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, amid a broad selloff in global technology stocks mirroring a sharp selloff in heavyweight U.S. technology shares on apprehensions that intense enthusiasm surrounding artificial intelligence could be overdone after reports stated that Nvidia is developing a new AI chip for China.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81624.49, down by 19.90 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 81494.50 and 81713.40. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.03%, while Small cap index was up by 0.06%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.99%, TECK up by 0.95%, IT up by 0.58%, FMCG up by 0.52% and Utilities up by 0.36%, while Bankex down by 0.41%, Healthcare down by 0.39%, Auto down by 0.21%, Metal down by 0.21% and Basic Materials down by 0.16% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 1.67%, Infosys up by 1.64%, Eternal up by 1.32%, NTPC up by 1.25% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.24%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 1.11%, Tata Motors down by 0.97%, Bharat Electronics down by 0.95%, HCL Technologies down by 0.86% and ICICI Bank down by 0.79% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, S&P Global Ratings Director YeeFarn Phua has said that the proposed 2-tier Goods and Services Tax (GST) structure could lower effective taxation rate and boost fiscal revenues over the longer term. His comments come ahead of a crucial meeting of the Centre and states on August 20 and 21 to discuss GST reform proposal by the Centre. The central government has proposed reforms in the GST regime wherein slabs would be reduced to just two -- 5 and 18 per cent-- and a special tax rate of 40 per cent on select few items. Currently, there are 4 slabs under GST -- 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent and the taxation system has been an important component of the government's revenues.

Regarding the impact of GST rate rejig on revenues, Phua said the current GST regime is complex with four different rates which makes accounting, and implementation quite difficult sometimes. He said ‘With the proposed 2-rate system being looked at, though the effective rate could be somewhat lower, because of easier implementation and accounting process, there could be a boost to fiscal revenues over longer term’.

Stating that the proposal is being deliberated both at the Centre and state levels, he said the reforms in the GST system are unlikely to hit fiscal revenues. He added ‘Overall, we don't think it would be a major drag on fiscal revenue. With lower rates and clearer implementation, it is possible to boost consumption spending in short-term as well. That is something we are watching out for’. As per the Centre's proposal, 99 per cent of the items in current 12 per cent slab will be brought down to 5 per cent, while 90 per cent of the items in 28 per cent slab will be bracketed at 18 per cent. The changes will reduce classification disputes, scope for litigation and evasion as well as remove duty inversion.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24976.95, down by 3.70 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 24929.70 and 24991.65. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 1.75%, Infosys up by 1.73%, Eternal up by 1.42%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.28% and NTPC up by 1.22%. On the flip side, Shriram Finance down by 1.38%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.04%, Hindalco down by 1.00%, Tata Motors down by 1.00% and Bharat Electronics down by 0.91% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 685.29 points or 1.57% to 42,861.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 638.05 points or 2.62% to 23,715.45, Hang Seng declined 187.9 points or 0.75% to 24,935.00, KOSPI dropped 43.97 points or 1.4% to 3,107.59 and Shanghai Composite weakened 2.07 points or 0.06% to 3,725.22. On the other hand, Jakarta Composite gained 40.43 points or 0.51% to 7,903.38 and Straits Times was up by 9.49 points or 0.23% to 4,225.68.
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