Sensex falls tracking global markets; GST awaited

REUTERS - Indian shares fell on Wednesday tracking falls in Asia as the market awaits a decision on the goods and services tax bill, with investors booking profits in recent outperformers such as Maruti Suzuki India Ltd .

A revamped goods and services tax is expected to be passed by the upper house of parliament as early as Wednesday, with analysts saying the outcome was largely priced in.

India is headed for a potentially volatile month in August, with the government due to appoint a replacement for outgoing Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan.

"There is high amount of profit-booking taking place in the market. As we expect GST to sail through, for now I don't think we will witness any substantial benefit from GST for at least one or two quarters," said Abhishek Jain, head of research, KR Choksey Securities.

 

The broader NSE Nifty fell as much as 0.75 percent, heading for a fourth consecutive decline. The benchmark BSE Sensex was down as much as 0.87 percent.

Automakers and logistics companies fell as investors remained wary ahead of the tax debate in parliament on hopes these sectors would benefit from a more unified tax system.

Maruti Suzuki India fell as much as 2.2 percent after rising to a record high on Tuesday on robust July sales.

Tata Motors fell as much as 1.6 percent, while Shipping Corp of India was down 1.7 percent and Transport Corp of India fell 4.95 percent.

Among other movers, Torrent Power fell as much as 7 percent to a near 10-month low after posting a slide in June-quarter profit, while HCL Technologies Ltd gained as much as 7.2 percent on robust results.

(Reporting by Samantha Kareen Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair)