Benchmarks continue to hold their head above water

After positive opening, benchmarks continued to hold their head above water in absence of any positive trigger at home front, with investors keenly eyeing the key U.S. jobs report later in the session that could help it retake ground lost to the euro overnight. Some support came in from reports that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 474 crore on December 04, 2014. Meanwhile, the broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices as investors bought mid-cap and small-cap stocks that are available at attractive valuations. The power and mining stocks were seeing some action, as the Coal Ministry is set to launch within a fortnight an electronic platform to address all regulatory hurdles related to coal mines that would be on the pattern of Prime Minister's Project Monitoring Group. Furthermore, Railway shares were trading higher on report that the railways have called an investors’ meet on Friday with the objective to attract investments through foreign direct investment (FDI) and public-private partnership (PPP) routes.

On global front, Asian stocks were trading mostly higher ahead of the crucial US monthly jobs data, due later in the day. Furthermore, Brent crude slipped below $70 a barrel and was set for a second weekly fall, with Saudi Arabia cutting prices in another indication it would maintain output in an oversupplied market.

Back home, Indian rupee strengthened by 12 paise to 61.80 against the dollar in early trade on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks amid persistent foreign capital inflows. Meanwhile, stocks from Realty, Capital Goods and Infrastructure counters were supporting the markets’ uptrend, while those from IT and Teck counters were adding to the underlying cautious undertone. In scrip specific development, shares of Axis Bank have gained after the bank has raised Rs 5,705 crore by selling infrastructure bonds. on the on the hand, Shares in Steel Authority of India (SAIL) were trading lower as the company launched its one-day offer-for-sale (OFS) at a floor price of Rs 83 share.

The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2299 stocks traded, 1407 stocks advanced, while 809 stocks declined on the BSE. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28592.90 up by 26.26 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 28560.21 and 28651.75. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.63%, while Small cap index gained 0.98%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.93%, Capital Goods up by 0.76%, Infrastructure up by 0.73%, FMCG up by 0.58% and Bankex up by 0.48% while, IT down by 1.16% and TECK down by 0.79% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sesa Sterlite up by 1.56%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.35%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.10%, GAIL India up by 0.95% and ITC up by 0.90%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.66%, Infosys down by 1.02%, Wipro down by 0.96%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 0.93% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.90% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Concerned over the rising tax disputes between government and multinational companies, Finance Ministry has set up a panel to interact with trade and industry on tax-related issues on a regular basis and ascertain areas where clarity in tax laws is required. 

The high level committee, which will be headed by former Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) in the Ministry of Finance Ashok Lahiri, to give recommendations to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) for issuance of appropriate clarifications by way of circulars, instructions on tax issues.  Accordingly, the CBDT and CBEC will issue the required clarifications, circulars, instructions within a period of two months from the date of receipt of recommendations of the committee. Furthermore, the committee will be assisted by two Nodal Officers one each from Income Tax and CBEC.

The move to set up the panel came as Finance Ministry has been receiving representations from trade bodies on tax-related issues and disputes that affect the industry as a whole or impact a large section of the industry.  In recent years, the government has been involved in tax disputes with some big multinational companies such as Vodafone, Nokia and Shell.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8,574.00 up by 9.60 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 8,588.35 and 8,560.30. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Ambuja Cement up by 2.65%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.82%, Sesa Sterlite up by 1.69%, Bank of Baroda up by 1.51% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.46%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.70%, HCL Tech down by 1.47%, Jindal Steel & Power down by 1.41%, Wipro down by 1.28% and BPCL down by 1.10% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in the green, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was tad higher by 0.02%, Straits Times gained 0.45%, Nikkei 225 up by 0.13%, Jakarta Composite was up by 0.18%, Hang Seng surged by 0.76%. On the other hand, Shanghai Composite was down by 0.65%, Taiwan Weighted lost 0.13% and KOSPI Index was lower by 0.05%.