Markets make a cautious start ahead of CPI and IIP data announcement

Indian markets tailing the gains in the global markets made a flat start and have slowly moved into positive territory. Though, cautiousness was still persisting in the markets ahead of the major macro data of Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation for the month of November and Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data for the month of October, to be announced later in the day and was keeping the markets in range. The IIP for the month of September which had came in at 2.5 percent against 0.4 percent in August is likely to once again contract for the month of October, while the CPI is likely to cool down further. However, the trade in early deals remains in green taking some support from a United Nations report, which has said that India's economic growth is expected to improve to 6.3 percent in 2016 with the country leading economic recovery in South Asia. Back on street, barring metals and oil & gas all other sectors are keeping their initial gains intact, while IT and tech stocks have taken the lead on continued weakness in rupee, after it slipped past the 10 months low in early deals.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27619.61, up by 17.60 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 27598.96 and 27684.36. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.50%, while Small cap index gained 0.59%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.77%, TECK up by 0.70%, INFRA up by 0.27%, Capital Goods up by 0.20%, Bankex up by 0.18% while, Oil & Gas down by 0.70%, Metal down by 0.50%, PSU down by 0.19%, Power down by 0.04%, FMCG down by 0.00% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 1.45%, Infosys up by 1.27%, Tata Power up by 1.06%, Wipro up by 0.91% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.85%. On the flip side, GAIL India down by 3.44%, Sesa Sterlite down by 2.14%, ONGC down by 1.80%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 1.27% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.25% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), in pre-budget consultations with Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das and other officers of the Finance Ministry, emphasized the need for the government to implement steps for reviving the economy. It suggested the centre on introducing measures like removal of anomalies in customs duty, reduction in CST rate, rationalisation of CENVAT credit scheme, among others in the forthcoming Budget 2015-16, while seeking continuity of Finance Ministry’s efforts on bringing in simplicity, clarity and stability in the tax policy regime.

The industry chamber recommended the government to remove anomalies in customs duty and slash down Central Sales Tax rate from 2 per cent to 1 per cent to compensate for the delay in the implementation of the GST. It also demanded that the government extend the excise duty concessions on certain goods to March 15, 2015. In the Union budget 2014-15, this reduction in the range of 2 per cent-6 per cent was provided up to December 31, 2014.

CII requested extension of investment allowance to the infrastructure sector to further spur investment activity in the economy. It demanded infrastructure companies to be exempted from paying the Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT).

The chamber also suggested putting in place technology based e-governance initiatives for procedural simplification to boost investor sentiment and pointed the government to take the 'Make in India' initiative to a new level in order galvanize the economy to a higher and inclusive growth path.

It recommended the promotion of manufacturing activity as one of the precedence to bolster growth. Besides, the chamber sought revamping of dispute resolution by strengthening the authority on Advance Ruling (AAR) and Advance Pricing Authority (APA).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8299.05, up by 6.15 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 8298.90 and 8321.45. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 1.66%, Infosys up by 1.35%, Tata Power up by 1.18%, Asian Paints up by 1.05% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.99%. On the flip side, GAIL India down by 3.08%, Cairn India down by 2.87%, ONGC down by 2.05%, Sesa Sterlite down by 1.91% and Dr. Reddys Lab down by 1.27% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Jakarta Composite was up by 3.02 points or 0.06% to 5,155.72, KOSPI Index gained 7.56 points or 0.39% to 1,924.15, Straits Times was higher by 15.78 points or 0.48% to 3,334.48, Hang Seng gained 19.47 points or 0.08% to 23,332.01, Taiwan Weighted increased by 36.12 points or 0.4% to 9,049.19 and Nikkei 225 surged by 260.87 points or 1.51% to 17,518.27.

On the other hand, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined by 3.83 points or 0.22% to 1,740.74 and Shanghai Composite was tad lower by 0.10 points to 2,925.64.