Market Cues Today: GST 2.0, H-1B Visa Fee Hike, Commodity Prices And Other Triggers Set To Impact D-Street

Share Market Cues Today: The Sensex and Nifty are likely to have a muted start, tracking the Gift Nifty which traded close to the 25,330 level down by 0.1 per cent. Earlier on September 19, the Sensex and Nifty closed lower on account of likely profit-booking following a gaining spree. The 30-share Sensex finished at 82,626.23 down by 387.73 points or 0.47 per cent and the Nifty 50 closed at 25,327.05 down by 96.55 points or 0.38 per cent.

Stock Market Cues On September 22

D-street is expected to react to several cues such as the announcement of the H-1B Visa fee hike, the enforcement of the GST 2.0 structure and other triggers such as fluctuations in commodity prices.

GST 2.0 Introduction

The GST 2.0 will come into effect on September 22. As a part of the re-structuring of GST slabs, the tax will be levied via two slabs, a 5 per cent slab and an 18 per cent slab. Additionally luxury items will attract 40 per cent GST and sin goods will attract while tobacco and related products will continue to face 28 per cent along with cess. D-street is expected to factor in the enforcement of the new GST slabs in trade on September 22.

H-1B Visa Fee Hike

The US has announced a new fee for H-1B visa applications. The one-time fees amounts ot $1,00,000 and is expected to impact fresh VISA applications submitted post the cut off date. Existing VISA holders are not affected by the change. However, the recent fee hike has raised concerns among workers and companies which operate overseas in the US or recruit from India. D-street is likely to react to the fee hike in today’s trade.

Crude Oil Prices On September 22

Crude oil prices witnessed a slight jump on September 22 as the price of West Texas Intermediate ranged around $63.02 up by $0.34 or 0.54 per cent. On the other hand Brent Crude prices increased to $67.03 up by $0.35 or 0.52 per cent.

Gold Rate On September 22

On September 22, the price of 24 karat gold was Rs 11,214 per gram, the price of 22 karat gold was around Rs 10,279 per gram and the price of 18 karat gold was Rs 8,410 per gram.

FII, DII Activity

Foreign Institutional Investors remained net buyers of Indian equities for the second straight day on September 19 as they net purchased equities worth Rs 390.74 crore. On the other hand domestic institutional investors also remained net buyers, purchasing Indian equities worth Rs 2,105.22 crore. So far in September, FIIs have net sold equities worth Rs 10,571.65 crore and DIIs have net purchased equities worth Rs 38,324.69 crore.

Asian Indices Trade Mixed On September 22

In the early hours of September 22, the Nikkei 225 and the KOSPI advanced 1.35 per cent and 0.88 per cent respectively. Other Asian indices such as the Hang Seng and the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.91 per cent and 0.09 per cent respectively.

US Market Indices

US market indices closed the session on September 19 with gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at 46,315.27 up by 0.37 per cent, the S&P 500 finished the session with gains of 0.49 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite closed higher by 0.72 per cent.