Sensex, Nifty hit fresh intraday low; breadth turns weak

Key indices hit fresh intraday low in early afternoon trade as selling picked up pace. At 12:21 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 95.09 points or 0.27% at 35,646.98. The Nifty 50 index was down 35.35 points or 0.33% at 10,718.65. Mixed cues from other Asian markets spoiled investors sentiment.

The government is close to phasing out 28% GST slab except a few items, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in a blog post today, 24 December 2018. Future GST road map may be a single standard rate. A single GST rate could be between 12% and 18%, Jaitley hinted.

Key indices opened with minor losses and traded in a narrow range with small losses in mid-morning trade. Indices hit fresh intraday low in early afternoon trade as selling picked up pace.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.29%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.73%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On BSE, 831 shares rose and 1368 shares fell. A total of 146 shares were unchanged.

Most cement shares declined. Ambuja Cements (down 1.56%), ACC (down 0.86%) and UltraTech Cement (down 0.66%), edged lower.

Grasim Industries was up 0.73%. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.

Most telecom shares declined. Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (down 3.8%), MTNL (down 1.68%), Vodafone Idea (down 1.18%) and Reliance Communications (down 0.99%), edged lower.

Telecom major Bharti Airtel was up 0.08%.

India's GST Council in the thirty-first meeting held on Saturday, 22 December 2018, at New Delhi announced reduction in GST rates/exemptions on 23 goods and services, including movie tickets, TV/monitor screens and power banks, and exempted frozen and preserved vegetables from the levy. Of the 23 goods and services on which rates have been slashed, tax rate on seven items in the 28% slab has been brought down. With this, only 28 goods are left in the highest 28% tax bracket. The new GST rates will be effective from 1st January 2019.

Overseas, Asian stocks were mixed, following last week's market turmoil in the US. US stocks closed steeply lower Friday, as investors digested the implications of a tighter US monetary policy, flagging global growth and uncertainty surrounding US-China trade relations. US equity market on Monday will end early as it is Christmas Eve and will be closed on Tuesday for the Christmas holiday.

Meanwhile, the US federal government partially shut down for the third time this year early Saturday as lawmakers in Washington continued to wrangle over funding for President Donald Trump's proposed border wall.

Key lawmakers and Trump administration officials returned midday Saturday to resume negotiations over Trump's border-wall funding demand of at least $5 billion. By the middle of the afternoon, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced his chamber would adjourn for the Christmas holiday, not returning until 27 December 2018.

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