Benchmarks extend northward journey; Sensex tops 26,000 mark

Buoyed by firm global cues, Indian equity benchmarks have made a positive start and are trading in fine fettle with both the gauges surpassing their crucial 26,000 (Sensex) and 7,750 (Nifty) levels. The US markets ended higher in last session, with the Dow Jones industrial average returning to positive territory for the year, as surging biotech shares helped investors shrug off disappointing retail sales data. Moreover, the Asian markets too were trading in the green at this point of time after a flood of soft economic data led investors to bet on a ceaseless fountain of stimulus from major central banks.

Back home, sentiments remained upbeat on report that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were net buyers of Indian stocks on August 13, 2014. Appreciation in Indian rupee against dollar too aided sentiments. The rupee was trading at 61.04 per dollar in morning deals as against previous close of 61.22 per dollar.

On the sectoral front, fast moving consumer goods, consumer durables and software witnessed the maximum gains in trade, while realty, public sector undertaking and infrastructure remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices too were trading in-line with benchmarks, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 988 shares on the gaining side against 874 shares on the losing side while 59 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 25948.30; around 30 point higher compared to its previous closing of 25918.95, and has touched a high and a low of 26071.52 and 25945.35 respectively. The index is currently trading at 26018.85, up by 99.90 points or 0.39%. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 declines on the index.

The overall market breadth remained in the favour of advances with 51.43% stocks advancing against 45.50% declines. The broader indices too were trading in the green; the BSE Mid cap index was up 0.20%, while Small cap index was up by 0.18%. 

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 0.97%, Consumer Durables up by 0.90%, IT up by 0.80%, Healthcare up by 0.75% and TECk up by 0.51%, while Realty was down by 0.46%, PSU was down by 0.25%, Infrastructure was down by 0.19% and Auto was down by 0.16% were the few losers on the sectoral index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC Bank up by 1.56%, Sun Pharma up by 1.42%, Hindalco up by 1.36%, ITC up by 1.36% and TCS up by 1.35%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp was down by 3.19%, HDFC was down by 1.40%, Bajaj Auto was down by 1.38%, Tata Steel was down by 1.14% and Bajaj Auto was down by 0.77% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, with an aim to provide impetus to Indian industry by implementing Goods and Service Tax (GST), Minister of State for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman has stated that discussions with the state governments on it are in the final stages and the government will soon implement the proposed new indirect tax regime.

The proposed GST is one of the biggest taxation reforms in India and will replace existing state and federal levies such as excise duty, service tax and value-added tax (VAT) and will integrate State economies and boost overall growth. Under GST, the taxation burden will be divided equitably between manufacturing and services, through a lower tax rate by increasing the tax base and minimizing exemptions. The industry is awaiting its introduction, as GST would remove the cascading effect, boost revenues and aid economic growth.

At present, the government is engaged to address states’ concerns over its design and compensation for revenue loss to ensure early implementation of this singular tax reform. States are insisting that petroleum be kept out of the purview of the GST are also opposed to subsuming of entry tax within GST, especially that entry tax which is in lieu of octroi.

The CNX Nifty opened at 7,756.15; about 17 point higher as compared to its previous closing of 7,739.55, and has touched a high and a low of 7,781.00 and 7,739.10 respectively. The index is currently trading at 7,762.50, up by 22.95 points or 0.30%. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Lupin up by 1.61%, HDFC Bank up by 1.55%, Hindalco up by 1.47%, ITC up by 1.20% and Sun Pharma up by 1.17%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 3.23%, HDFC down by 1.77%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.73%, DLF down by 1.57% and BHEL down by 1.10% were the major losers on the index.

Asian markets were trading mostly in the green; Nikkei 225 strengthens by 99.55 points or 0.65% to 15,313.18, KOSPI Index Rose by 0.96 points or 0.05% to 2,063.32. Straits Times surged 5.04 points or 0.15% to 3,306.45 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 14.99 points or 0.16% to 9,246.30.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite dropped by 1.08 points or 0.05% to 2,221.80. Hang Seng slipped 18.79 points or 0.08% to 24,871.55, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined by 0.26 points or 0.01% to 1,857.78 and Jakarta Composite was down by 11.33 points or 0.22% to 5,156.94.