HOME > MARKETS > MARKET COMMENTARY
  MARKET COMMENTARY
EQUITY
Sluggish trade continues on Dalal Street
Jul-22-2019

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade sluggish in late trade on Monday with frontline gauges trading with a cut of over half a percent. Sentiments remained grim since beginning with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) data showing that after touching record highs, the foreign exchange reserves declined by $1.113 billion to $428.797 billion in the week to July 12 - the first fall after four consecutive weeks of gains - due to a fall in foreign currency assets. Continuous selling by foreign investors post the presentation of the Budget on July 5 and corporate results for April - June 2019 quarter that failed to enthuse investors have dented the overall market sentiment.

On the global front, European markets are trading in green at this point of time, shrugging off dialed-down expectations for a big U.S. rate cut this month, while escalating tensions in the Middle East boosted safe-haven assets and oil prices. Back home, traders shrugged off NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar’s statement where he has voiced confidence that India will achieve economic growth of 8 per cent plus from fiscal year 2020-2021 onwards as structural reforms like the GST are set to produce the benefits. Broader indices too witnessed selling with Mid Cap and Small Cap edged lower in the range of half a percent to one and a half percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38067.78, down by 269.23 points or 0.70% after trading in a range of 37890.32 and 38333.52. There were 16 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.50%, while Small cap index was down by 1.14%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.97%, Metal up by 1.82%, Oil & Gas up by 1.11%, Telecom up by 0.75%, Basic Materials up by 0.59%, while FMCG down by 1.32%, Realty down by 1.30%, Bankex down by 1.22%, Consumer Durables down by 0.44%, Industrials down by 0.29% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 8.95%, Vedanta up by 3.94%, Reliance Industries up by 2.63%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.50% and Asian Paints up by 2.47%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 4.98%, HDFC Bank down by 3.28%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.49%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.48% and Bajaj Finance down by 2.07% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, in its 36th meeting to be held on July 25, is likely to decide on lowering tax rates for electric vehicles (e-vehicles). Earlier, the Council, in its meeting last month, had referred the issue relating to GST concessions on electric vehicle, electric chargers and hiring of electric vehicles, to an officers committee. The recommendations of the officers committee are likely to be placed before the Council on July 25.

In order to push domestic manufacturing of e-vehicles, the Centre proposed to the Council to slash GST rates to 5% from 12%. Besides, GST rate for petrol and diesel cars and hybrid vehicles is already at the highest bracket of 28% plus cess.

The Council, chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, will also consider tax structure for solar power projects. In May, the Delhi High Court had asked the GST council to take a relook at the taxation structure following industry petition. The solar industry has been pitching for a different ratio for splitting goods and services for levying GST.

The Council may also look at taxation of lotteries. In the previous meeting, the Council had decided to seek legal opinion of the Attorney General for levying GST. Currently, a state-organised lottery attracts 12% GST, while a state-authorised lottery attracts 28% tax.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11357.65, down by 61.60 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 11301.25 and 11398.15. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 8.95%, Vedanta up by 3.81%, Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 3.35%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.88% and Reliance Industries up by 2.63%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 5.24%, HDFC down by 4.97%, HDFC Bank down by 3.26%, Eicher Motors down by 3.22% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.47% were the top losers.

Most of the Asian markets are trading in red; Nikkei 225 shed 50.20 points or 0.23% to 21,416.79, Straits Times declined 20.74 points or 0.61% to 3,357.22, Hang Seng dropped 394.14 points or 1.37% to 28,371.26, KOSPI slipped 1.02 points or 0.05% to 2,093.34, Jakarta Composite dropped 22.99 points or 0.36% to 6,433.55 and Shanghai Composite was down by 37.23 points or 1.27% to 2,886.97. On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted was up by 71.34 points or 0.66% to 10,944.53.

All European markets were trading in green; FTSE gained 24.04 points or 0.32% to 7,532.74, CAC rose 5.56 points or 0.10% to 5,557.90 and DAX was up by 15.72 points or 0.13% to 12,275.89.
  RELATED NEWS >>
Most Viewed >>
April 24 , 2024
Mutual funds hold Rs 1.47 lakh crore worth of
April 22 , 2024
Investment bankers to receive hefty bonuses as
April 22 , 2024
FPIs mount bearish bets as risk aversion grows
April 22 , 2024
FPIs withdraw over Rs 5,200 crore in April so
EXPLORE
© CITRUS INTERACTIVE
Designed & Developed Accord Fintech Pvt. Ltd.