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Indian equity benchmarks continued their weak trade in afternoon session with Sensex and Nifty trading down by 215 and 61 points respectively. Traders got worried as a private report stated that inflows into equity mutual funds dropped sharply by 40 per cent to Rs 5,988 crore in June on profit booking by investors as stock markets witnessed sharp rallies in recent times. Sentiments also got hit as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) stood as net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 554.92 crore on Thursday, as per provisional exchange data. On the sectoral front, insurance sector was in focus as India has invited UK companies to invest in the insurance sector, while Britain offered its London market for direct listing of Indian firms. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as traders confidence took a beating over the global spread of the Delta virus variant and worries it could stall a worldwide economic recovery.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52354.01, down by 214.93 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 52228.01 and 52555.73. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.39%, while Small cap index was up by 0.24%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.49%, Metal up by 0.87%, Telecom up by 0.76%, Basic Materials up by 0.40% and Consumer Durables was up by 0.36%, while Energy down by 0.60%, Bankex down by 0.56%, IT down by 0.44%, Oil & Gas down by 0.43% and Capital Goods was down by 0.39% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 2.41%, Tata Steel up by 2.07%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.20%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.32% and Titan Company was up by 0.22%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 1.70%, Axis Bank down by 1.25%, TCS down by 0.96%, Reliance Industries down by 0.80% and HDFC was down by 0.79% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI) has asked the government to bring petrol and diesel under the ambit of GST to bring down the fuel rates, a day after prices of petrol in Delhi crossed the Rs 100 a litre-mark. It also urged the central government to withdraw the increased excise duty that was introduced last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. CTI said ‘Crude oil was the cheapest in the last 16 years in 2020-21. During corona, between March and May, 2020, when crude oil became cheaper, the central government increased the excise duty on petrol by Rs 13/litre and diesel by Rs 16/litre’.

It noted that the dealer price of petrol in Delhi is Rs 40.62/litre, central excise duty on it is Rs 32.90/litre, VAT is Rs 23.13/litre, while dealer commission is Rs 3.60/litre, that is, the tax being levied on per litre of petrol is Rs 56.03. Similarly, the dealer price of diesel is Rs 42.39/litre, excise duty is Rs 31.80/litre, VAT is Rs 12.85/litre while dealer commission is Rs 2.53/litre, making the tax levied on diesel Rs 44.65/litre.

CTI chairman Brijesh Goyal said the traders’ body had recommended bringing petrol and diesel in the ‘maximum luxury slab of 28 per cent of GST’, and levy Central GST (CGST) and State (GST) of Rs 18 per litre each on petrol. Due to this, the price of petrol including dealer commission is 80.22, and petrol will be cheaper by about Rs 20/litre. Similarly, Goyal said if Rs 15 worth of CGST and SGST each is levied on diesel, the price of diesel including dealer commission will be Rs 74.92 and diesel will become cheaper by about Rs 15/litre.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15667.10, down by 60.80 points or 0.39% after trading in a range of 15632.75 and 15730.85. There were 13 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining, while 1 stock remains unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports up by 3.25%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.30%, Tata Steel up by 2.14%, Divi's Lab up by 1.23% and Bharti Airtel was up by 1.17%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 1.75%, Axis Bank down by 1.24%, TCS down by 1.18%, Wipro down by 1.14% and Shree Cement down was by 1.08% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; KOSPI fell 34.73 points or 1.07% to 3,217.95, Nikkei 225 slipped 177.61 points or 0.63% to 27,940.42, Shanghai Composite declined 2.78 points or 0.08% to 3,522.72, Taiwan Weighted was down by 204.61 points or 1.15% to 17,661.48.

On the flip side, Straits Times advanced 17.91 points or 0.58% to 3,125.50, Hang Seng increased 257.04 points or 0.95% to 27,410.17 and Jakarta Composite was up by 10.58 points or 0.18% to 6,050.48.

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