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Sensex Falls Over 100 Points Amid Choppy Trade, Nifty Near 10,730: 10 Things To Know
24 Dec 2018, 09:58 AM IST 
Losses in auto and metal stocks offset advances inIT and pharma counters
- The Sensex moved in a range of 276 (35,910-35,634), see-sawing between gains and losses compared with its previous close of 35,742.
- At 9:57 am, the Sensex was trading 62 points higher at 35,679, while the Nifty was at 10,721, down 32 from the previous close.
- Top laggards on the 50-scrip index were Hero MotoCorp, JSW Steel and Bajaj Auto, trading between 2 per cent and 3.4 per cent lower.
- On the other hand, Sun Pharma and TCS, trading 1.4 1 and 1.1 per cent higher respectively, were among the prominent laggards on the Nifty.
- Over the weekend, the GST Council reduced tax rates on over 20 items such as televisions, batteries and movie tickets.
- The move was in line with the government's plan to cut the number of items taxed at the highest rate so that over 99 per cent of items, with the exception of luxury goods, come under the 18 per cent or lower rates.
- Welcoming the government action on the indirect tax rates, industry body Ficci said it will stabilise and strengthen GST further. "The GST Council has followed a pragmatic policy by bringing down the rates gradually, taking into consideration the revenue realisation and affordability,” it noted.
- Investors in most Asian markets fretted that political instability in the US was leaving the country rudderless at a time when the global economy was showing signs of faltering. While Japanese stock markets were closed for a holiday, many bourses were set to close early for Christmas. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.5 per cent to its lowest in seven weeks. Yet Chinese blue chips managed to edge up 0.2 per cent.
- US President Donald Trump's budget director and chief of staff on Sunday said the partial US government shutdown could continue into January, when the new Congress convenes and Democrats take over the House of Representatives.
- Mr Trump on Sunday said he was replacing Defense Secretary Jim Mattis two months early, a move officials said was driven by the president's anger at Mr Mattis' resignation letter and its rebuke of his foreign policy.
(With agency inputs)