Markets continue to trade firm in afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade firm in afternoon session amid sustained buying by the investors ahead of Diwali. Firm global cues, increased capital inflows after the government announced reforms in the oil and gas and coal sectors influenced the sentiments. Further, Global rating agency Moody's statement that the decision to deregulate the diesel prices and hike the natural gas prices are credit positive for India also buoyed the investors’ sentiments. Most of the sectoral indices were trading in green with auto as the top gaining index up by around 2.36%. Investors were also seen piling up position in capital goods, consumer durables and teck stocks. Broader indices too equally participated in the rally with both mid cap and small cap indices trading up by over 0.80%. However, the stocks of realty and PSU were trading in negative territory. Stock specific movement, shares of Hero MotoCorp were up over 3% at Rs 3,095 after the company expected robust sales on Dhanteras, October 21, 2014. On the other hand, Biocon was trading lower by nearly 3% at Rs 468 after the company reported a flat consolidated net profit of Rs 102 crore in September quarter, due to higher raw material and employee cost.

On global front, Asian markets were trading in green with Hang Seng up by 1.23% and Nikkei 225 up by 2.46%. Global investors’ sentiment got a boost as European Central Bank's plan to buy corporate bonds, a step that would help banks free up more of their balance sheets for lending. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 7,900 and 26,500 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2,355 stocks traded, 1,484 stocks advanced, while 779 stocks declined on the BSE.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26761.12, up by 185.47 points or 0.70% after trading in a range of 26742.04 and 26818.33. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.98%, while Small cap index up by 0.88%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 2.36%, Capital Goods up by 1.68%, Consumer Durables up by 1.21%, TECK up by 0.83% and IT up by 0.76%. On the flip side, PSU down by 0.36% and Realty down by 0.11% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hero MotoCorp up by 3.54%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.92%, Tata Motors up by 2.60%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.20% and Cipla up by 2.03%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.74%, NTPC down by 0.98%, Coal India down by 0.72%, Tata Power down by 0.63% and Hindalco down by 0.34% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to implement the Goods and Service Tax (GST) soon and to provide impetus to Indian industry, Finance Minister Arun Jailtley has stated that the revised Constitution Amendment Bill to roll out GST would be introduced in the forthcoming Winter Session of Parliament. By adding further, Finance Minister stressed that the first tranche of compensation to States for their revenue loss arising due to phasing out of Central Sales Tax (CST) may also be taken up in the Winter Session.
The Government proposes to implement the GST from April 1, 2016, and the new Finance Commission is also likely to be set up ahead of its schedule to look into the issues related with the 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 boost revenues and aid economic growth.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7985.90, up by 58.15 points or 0.73% after trading in a range of 7977.65 and 7999.30. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hero MotoCorp up by 3.54%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 3.54%, Bajaj Auto up by 3.09%, Tata Motors up by 2.71% and Cairn India up by 2.46%. On the flip side, DLF down by 2.22%, ONGC down by 1.74%, NTPC down by 1.12%, NMDC down by 0.95% and Tata Power down by 0.80% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in green, KOSPI Index up by 21.69 points or 1.13% to 1,936.97, Straits Times up by 21.69 points or 0.68% to 3,202.74, Jakarta Composite up by 45.55 points or 0.91% to 5,074.89, Taiwan Weighted up by 94.19 points or 1.09% to 8,748.83, Hang Seng up by 283.48 points or 1.23% to 23,372.06, Nikkei 225 up by 364.73 points or 2.46% to 15,169.01. While, Shanghai Composite down 6.95 points or 0.3% to 2,332.71,