Sensex trades flat, Nifty below 9,500; broader markets buck trend

The fall came in line with Asian peers after dismal performances of European and US markets

The benchmark indices were trading lower on Friday tracking negative trend seen in Asian markets following dismal performances of European and US markets.

At 12:33 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 30,828, down 29 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 9,492, down 11 points.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap bucked the trend to gain 0.1% each. 

"A ‘buy on dips’ market has now turned into a ‘sell on rise’ market and hence, they are repeatedly advised not to remain aggressively long on the market and in fact, try to use intraday rallies to go short on the market. Going forward, 9,545-9,575 would now be seen as immediate hurdles for the index," said Angel Broking in a technical note. 

Sectors and stocks

Nifty Realty index (down 0.8%) was the top loser, led by losses in Indiabulls Real Estate, HDIL, Sobha and DLF, which lost 2% each.

The government on Thursday hiked the GST rate for the construction sector to 18% from 12%, but removed land value from computation of tax liability.   

InterGlobe Aviation, which operates IndiGo airline, was down nearly 5% to Rs 1,179 on BSE in intra-day trade, extending its Thursday’s fall, after the low-cost carrier expressed unsolicited interest in buying a stake in national carrier Air India.

The stock has fallen 7.4% from its 52-week high of Rs 1,273 touched yesterday, June 29, 2017.

Central Depository Services (India) Limited (CDSL) made a strong debut by listing at Rs 250, a 68% premium against its initial public offer (IPO) price of Rs 149 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). CDSL is the first depository to be listed on the country’s stock exchanges.

Rollovers 

Rollover of Nifty futures to July series came in at 73%,  which was higher as compared to the average rollover of 69% seen in the last three series. Market-wide rollovers came in at 80%, higher than the average rollovers of 75% seen during the comparable period of last three series. 

Govt all set for GST roll out

The stage is all set for the rollout of the major indirect tax reform measure - Goods and Services Tax (GST) - in Parliament's Central Hall on Friday night amid boycott by the Congress, the Trinamool and other opposition parties even as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley urged them to reconsider their decision.

The launch will take place at the stroke of midnight after speeches by President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the presence of Vice President Hamid Ansari, MPs, Chief Ministers and state Finance Ministers besides a host of industralists and legal luminaries.

Fed to release monetary policy report on July 7

The Federal Reserve said on Thursday it would release its semiannual monetary policy report on July 7, five days before Fed Chair Janet Yellen testifies to Congress on July 12.

Historically, the report on the US economy and central bank policy has been released along with testimony from the Fed chief. In a brief statement, the Fed said the advanced release would allow members of Congress and the public time to review the report before Yellen's appearance.

Global markets

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.8%, set to end the month up 1.7% after hitting a two-year high on Thursday. It is up 5.3% for the quarter and has risen 18.3% this year.

The CSI 300 index fell 0.5%, while the Shanghai Composite slid 0.4%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 1.1%.

Japan's Nikkei tumbled 1.1%, shrinking its monthly gain to 1.8% and its quarterly increase to 5.8%.

Australian shares dropped 1.4%, while South Korea's KOSPI lost 0.4%.

Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq, with its 1.4% loss, led declines on Wall Street. The Nasdaq is poised to post a 0.9% loss for the month, but is still up 14% this year.

(With inputs from Reuters)