Bourses trade flat in late afternoon session

After trading higher, Indian equity markets traded flat in late afternoon session amid some profit booking. However, the broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index continued to trade in green. Investors overlooked S&P Global Ratings’ statement that India is a well-diversified exporter and a blip in its exports to Bangladesh is unlikely to have any meaningful impact on India's overall trade position for the full year. Bangladesh is facing its worst political crisis since independence in 1971, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigning amid massive anti-government protests. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green despite concerns about supply disruptions from rising tensions in the Middle East. European markets were trading mostly in green ahead of the release of Eurozone retail sales data later in the day. Sales are forecast to drop 0.1 percent month-on-month in June, offsetting the 0.1 percent rise in May.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 78825.99, up by 66.59 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 78560.09 and 79852.08. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.35%, while Small cap index was up by 0.21%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.67%, Metal up by 0.85%, Basic Materials up by 0.75%, IT up by 0.72% and Capital Goods was up by 0.59%, while Bankex down by 0.50%, Consumer Durables down by 0.46%, Telecom down by 0.31% and Auto was down by 0.04% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were JSW Steel up by 2.83%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.02%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.74%, HCL Tech up by 1.55% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.34%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.64%, Titan Company down by 1.27%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.04%, HDFC Bank down by 0.99% and SBI down by 0.88% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government has collected Rs 8,262.94 crore towards the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on health insurance premium in 2023-24 fiscal year (FY24) as against Rs 7,638 crore GST mopped up in the 2022-23, higher by 8.18% year on year. Besides, in 2023-24, Rs 1,484.36 crore was collected on account of GST on health reinsurance premium as against Rs 963 crore in 2022-23 fiscal, remarking growth of 54.13%.

In the 2021-22 financial year, GST of Rs 5,354 crore was mobilised from health insurance premium, while Rs 826 crore came in from health reinsurance premium. Meanwhile, after the introduction of GST with effect from July 1, 2017, GST is leviable on life insurance and health insurance services. Since its inception, GST of 18 per cent rate is levied on premium paid towards health insurance.

However, certain insurance schemes catering to poor sections of the society and differently-abled, such as Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), Universal Health Insurance Scheme, Jan Arogya Bima Policy and Niramaya Health Insurance Scheme are exempt from the GST.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24035.70, down by 19.90 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 23985.35 and 24382.60. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Britannia up by 2.94%, JSW Steel up by 2.65%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.91%, LTIMindtree up by 1.78% and Adani Enterprises up by 1.71%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 3.25%, SBI Life down by 2.08%, Shriram Finance down by 1.81%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.77% and Titan Company down by 1.38% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 3217.04 points or 9.28% to 34,675.46, Taiwan Weighted added 670.14 points or 3.27% to 20,501.02, Jakarta Composite gained 88.7 points or 1.24% to 7,148.35, KOSPI increased 80.60 points or 3.2% to 2,522.15 and Shanghai Composite was up by 6.58 points or 0.23% to 2,867.28. On the flip side, Straits Times fell 31.64 points or 0.99% to 3,212.03 and Hang Seng was down by 51.02 points or 0.31% to 16,647.34.

European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 15.15 points or 0.19% to 8,023.38 and Germany’s DAX was up by 26.04 points or 0.15% to 17,365.04. On the flip side, France’s CAC was down by 21.54 points or 0.3% to 7,127.45.