Benchmarks trade in fine fettle in early deals

Resuming their northward journey after a day of halt, Indian equity benchmarks are trading in the green with a gain of around quarter a percent. Sentiments remained up-beat as some respite came in on long pending GST, as the state Finance Ministers resolved to lower the threshold limit for imposing Goods and Service Tax (GST) from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 10 lakh, and asked the Centre to include the provision for GST compensation in the Constitutional Amendment Bill. However, gains remained capped on concern from the rainfall front, although monsoon revived significantly in the middle of last month, bouncing back from an alarming 43% seasonal deficit to barely 16% after a few weeks of heavy showers, deficit has again widened to 18% for the entire country with rainfall dipping in the past two weeks.

On the global front, the US markets went through a volatile trade after the release of the minutes of Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting but managed mostly a positive close as it indicated its intention to keep the benchmark interest rate low for a considerable time. However, Asian markets were trading mostly in the red led by Chinese markets ahead of the release of the preliminary reading of a private Purchasing Managers Index.

On the sectoral front, consumer durables, oil and gas and capital goods witnessed the maximum gains in trade, while metal remained the lone loser on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices too were trading with traction, while the market breadth on the BSE was negative; there were 1326 shares on the gaining side against 552 shares on the losing side while 67 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 26322.66; around 6 points higher as compared to its previous closing of 26314.29, and has touched a high and a low of 26386.35 and 26302.26 respectively. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26382.87, up by 68.58 points or 0.26%. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The overall market breadth remained in the favour of advances with 68.17% stocks advancing against 28.38% declines. The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.87%, while Small cap index up by 0.70%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 3.19%, Oil & Gas up by 0.82%, Capital Goods up by 0.76%, PSU up by 0.74%, Realty up by 0.68%, while Metal down by 0.62% was the only losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were GAIL India up by 1.74%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.64%, SBI up by 1.37%, ONGC up by 1.37% and Axis Bank was up by 1.00%. On the flip side, Sesa Sterlite down by 1.31%, Tata Steel down by 1.25%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 0.99%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.70% and Cipla was down by 0.66% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to ensure timely and adequate disclosures by the listed companies, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) proposed a detailed set of norms for listed companies. According to the proposed norms, listed companies will have to disclose price sensitive information within a day along with the reasons for such developments. Any information that impacts company's assets and liabilities and financial condition and influence investor decisions could be considered as price sensitive.

The SEBI’s draft notified that listed companies would have to inform stock exchanges about all events which are material in nature, price sensitive and have bearing on overall business performance. The market regulator further stressed that in cases where the disclosures are made after one day, listed entity shall, along with such disclosure provide suitable explanation for delay in making disclosure. Besides, companies are required to make periodic disclosures on the associated material developments till such time the matter is resolved. As per the SEBI’s draft note, a listed company will have to explain and give reason for change in key managerial personnel, including resignation. The company is also required to disclose the appointment of a director.

SEBI has sought to define material transactions to make sure that price sensitive information is dispersed to stock exchanges on a timely basis. The move came after considering that laxity and liberal interpretations by firms has resulted in inadequate disclosure levels in the securities market.

The CNX Nifty opened at 7,875.35; flat as compared to its previous closing of 7,875.30, and has touched a high and a low of 7,893.80 and 7,868.15 respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7893.90, up by 18.60 points or 0.24%. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were GAIL India up by 2.21%, Asian Paints up by 1.76%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.58%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.33% and HCL Tech was up by 1.29%. On the flip side, United Spirits down by 1.90%, NMDC down by 1.48%, Sesa Sterlite down by 1.34%, Tata Steel down by 1.27% and Dr. Reddys Lab was down by 0.99% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in the red; Hang Seng dropped by 232.71 points or 0.92% to 24,927.05, KOSPI Index slipped 29.02 points or 1.40% to 2,043.76, Jakarta Composite tumbled by 5.84 points or 0.11% to 5,184.32, Shanghai Composite declined by 19.71 points or 0.88% to 2,220.51, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 5.40 points or 0.29% to 1,873.49 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 50.23 points or 0.54% to 9,237.82.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 spurted by 106.19 points or 0.69% to 15,560.64, Straits Times gained 1.14 points or 0.03% points or 3,324.79.