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Sluggishness continues on Dalal Street in late trade
Feb-05-2025

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade sluggish in late hour of trade as traders remained on side-lines ahead of Reserve bank of India’s (RBI) MPC policy meeting outcome. Traders are hopeful that RBI will announce a 25-basis-point rate cut on February 7 to stimulate growth following recent personal tax cuts. Traders also eyeing outcome of upcoming Delhi Assembly Elections. The Delhi Election results will be announced on February 8. But before the election results, exit polls will predict the mood of the national capital soon after the voting concludes on February 5. Uncertainties over Trump’s tariff policies too kept traders away from risky assets. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 78,440.70, down by 143.11 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 78328.04 and 78735.41. There were 14 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.88%, while Small cap index was up by 1.51%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.99%, Metal up by 1.67%, Energy up by 1.50%, Power up by 1.23% and PSU up by 1.23%, while Realty down by 1.51%, FMCG down by 1.29%, Consumer Durables down by 0.85% and Consumer Disc down by 0.19% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone up by 1.67%, Indusind Bank up by 1.57%, Tata Motors up by 1.31%, HDFC Bank up by 1.01% and Tata Steel up by 0.79%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 3.00%, Titan Company down by 2.83%, Nestle down by 2.41%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.63% and ITC down by 1.62% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the GST Council will soon take a decision on having fewer and lower rates as the review work is almost complete. She noted that currently, Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a four-tier tax structure with slabs at 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent. Luxury and demerit goods are taxed at the highest bracket of 28 per cent, while packed food and essential items are in the lowest 5 per cent slab. 

The GST Council, chaired by Sitharaman and comprising her state counterparts, has set up a group of ministers (GoM) to suggest changes in GST rates as well as reduce slabs.  The minister said to be fair to the GST and the ministers who are all in the council, the work on rationalizing and simplifying GST rates has already commenced. In fact, it had commenced nearly three years ago. Days after presenting the Union Budget 2025-26 that also provides significant income tax relief to the middle class, she asserted the country's economic fundamentals are strong and there is no structural slowdown.  

Talking about capital expenditure, she further said the capex has not come down, in fact it has increased to Rs 11.21 lakh crore which is 4.3 per cent of the GDP. For fiscal 2025-26, the Budget proposed to spend Rs 11.21 lakh crore towards capital expenditure (capex), higher than Rs 10.18 lakh crore in the Revised Estimates for FY25. It was Rs 10 lakh crore in FY24, Rs 7.5 lakh crore in FY23, Rs 5.54 lakh crore in FY22 and Rs 4.39 lakh crore in FY21.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23737.25, down by 2.00 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 23712.40 and 23807.30. There were 30 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 2.90%, ONGC up by 2.68%, Apollo Hospital up by 2.46%, BPCL up by 2.21% and Bharat Electronics up by 2.00%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 2.98%, Titan Company down by 2.74%, Nestle down by 2.41%, Britannia Industries down by 2.01% and ITC down by 1.59% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Hang Seng declined 192.87 points or 0.94% to 20,597.09, Jakarta Composite decreased 56.26 points or 0.80% to 7,017.20, Straits Times fell 6.39 points or 0.17% to 3,816.62 and Shanghai Composite weakened 21.11 points or 0.65% to 3,229.49. On the other hand, KOSPI increased 27.58 points or 1.10% to 2,509.27, Nikkei 225 surged 33.11 points or 0.09% to 38,831.48 and Taiwan Weighted added 367.62 points or 1.59% to 23,161.58.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 6.75 points or 0.08% to 8,564.02, France’s CAC fell 22.84 points or 0.29% to 7,883.56, Germany’s DAX lost 92.52 points or 0.43% to 21,413.18.
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