 "Markets take a breather from all-time highs; Idea tanks 7% post smart rally")
Benchmark indices were trading lower following weak global cues after Wall Street ended flat to negative in the overnight trade.
The sentiment was also affected as investors stayed cautious to see how Modi’s latest gamble of making Yogi Adityanath the Uttar Pradesh CM pans out. BJP won control of the state a week ago, earning the biggest majority there for any party since 1977. The win has raised the prospect of Modi's re-election in general elections in 2019.
At 12:45 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 29,516, down 132 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 9,124, down 36 points.
The broader market outperformed benchmark indices with BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap up 0.1% and 0.2% respectively.
"After a brief play in the 9,200 vicinity a consolidation may be in order. Oscillators and directional moving indicators are more neutral though, and do not support outright bearishness. Volatility has been declining of late, and any uptick in the same is likely to signal a turn lower in prices. Until then, the upside objectives 9,350-9,500 shall remain potent, but it would be prudent to look for deeper dips," said Geojit Financial Services in a technical note.
On Friday, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,532.39 crore, while Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 711.50 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.
Sectors and Stocks
BSE IT index fell 0.9% after reports that Cognizant may cut at least 6,000 jobs, which represents 2.3% of its total workforce. Infosys was the biggest loser on BSE Sensex, down 1.6% after reports that the company will not issue H1-B visas for junior employees.
Idea Cellular gained nearly 15% in first 5 minutes of the trade after the company approved merger with Vodafone India. According to reports, Idea Cellular will hold 25% stake in the merged company and the merged entity will be the biggest player in the telecom sector. The stock later pared gains to trade 7% lower on profit booking dragging BSE telecom index down 1%. Bharti Airtel also cracked 1.3% post the announcement.
Adani Ports, HUL, Cipla and Lupin were the top gainers on BSE Sensex while Infosys, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel and GAIL were the biggest laggards.
Call on GST supplementary bills today
The Cabinet may take up for approval the supporting GST legislations, which will then be introduced in Parliament as the government sprints to meet the July 1 target date for rollout of the new indirect tax regime.
A set of four supporting legislations -- the Compensation Law, the Central-GST or C-GST, Integrated-GST or I-GST and Union Territory-GST or UT-GST -- are likely to together go to the Cabinet for approval.
Global Markets
Asian stocks were slightly weaker early on Monday, following Wall Street's declines and the G20's decision to drop a pledge to avoid trade protectionism, while the Federal Reserve's seemingly dovish stance last week continued to drag the dollar lower.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was fractionally lower. Japan is closed for a holiday.
On Friday, Wall Street was flat to negative, dragged lower by bank shares that fell along with Treasury yields.
Financial leaders from the world's biggest economies reiterated their warnings against competitive devaluations and disorderly foreign exchange markets at the meeting in the German town of Baden-Baden over the weekend.
The sentiment was also affected as investors stayed cautious to see how Modi’s latest gamble of making Yogi Adityanath the Uttar Pradesh CM pans out. BJP won control of the state a week ago, earning the biggest majority there for any party since 1977. The win has raised the prospect of Modi's re-election in general elections in 2019.
At 12:45 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 29,516, down 132 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 9,124, down 36 points.
The broader market outperformed benchmark indices with BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap up 0.1% and 0.2% respectively.
"After a brief play in the 9,200 vicinity a consolidation may be in order. Oscillators and directional moving indicators are more neutral though, and do not support outright bearishness. Volatility has been declining of late, and any uptick in the same is likely to signal a turn lower in prices. Until then, the upside objectives 9,350-9,500 shall remain potent, but it would be prudent to look for deeper dips," said Geojit Financial Services in a technical note.
On Friday, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,532.39 crore, while Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 711.50 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.
Sectors and Stocks
BSE IT index fell 0.9% after reports that Cognizant may cut at least 6,000 jobs, which represents 2.3% of its total workforce. Infosys was the biggest loser on BSE Sensex, down 1.6% after reports that the company will not issue H1-B visas for junior employees.
Idea Cellular gained nearly 15% in first 5 minutes of the trade after the company approved merger with Vodafone India. According to reports, Idea Cellular will hold 25% stake in the merged company and the merged entity will be the biggest player in the telecom sector. The stock later pared gains to trade 7% lower on profit booking dragging BSE telecom index down 1%. Bharti Airtel also cracked 1.3% post the announcement.
Adani Ports, HUL, Cipla and Lupin were the top gainers on BSE Sensex while Infosys, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel and GAIL were the biggest laggards.
Call on GST supplementary bills today
The Cabinet may take up for approval the supporting GST legislations, which will then be introduced in Parliament as the government sprints to meet the July 1 target date for rollout of the new indirect tax regime.
A set of four supporting legislations -- the Compensation Law, the Central-GST or C-GST, Integrated-GST or I-GST and Union Territory-GST or UT-GST -- are likely to together go to the Cabinet for approval.
Global Markets
Asian stocks were slightly weaker early on Monday, following Wall Street's declines and the G20's decision to drop a pledge to avoid trade protectionism, while the Federal Reserve's seemingly dovish stance last week continued to drag the dollar lower.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was fractionally lower. Japan is closed for a holiday.
On Friday, Wall Street was flat to negative, dragged lower by bank shares that fell along with Treasury yields.
Financial leaders from the world's biggest economies reiterated their warnings against competitive devaluations and disorderly foreign exchange markets at the meeting in the German town of Baden-Baden over the weekend.
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