Markets trade firm supported by strength in metal stocks

Indian markets after a smart bounce back continue to trade near the high points of the day in the early noon session, value buying at lower levels has supported the markets to move higher and sustain gains. Traders were also encouraged by the SBI Composite Index showing a significant growth in output both in terms of month-on-month and yearly basis in March. The monthly index has shown robust growth of 58.5 in March 2015, from 47.6 in February 2015. The global cues too remained supportive and China's main stock index rose to its highest in almost seven years after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang vowed to support the economy if it continues to slide and hurt employment and also as weak economic data from US eased speculation of the Federal Reserve’s early rate hike. Back home, traders remained in jubilant mood with IMF chief’s statement that the Indian economy is poised to overtake the combined GDP of Japan and Germany in the next four years on the back of recent policy reforms and improved business confidence in the country. Back on street, while the broader markets were going neck-in-neck to the benchmarks, all the sectoral indices were in green on the BSE with healthcare, consumer durables and auto taking the lead.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28700.06, up by 262.35 points or 0.92% after trading in a range of 28545.43 and 28783.39. There were 28 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.88%, while Small cap index gained 0.84%.

All the sectoral indices were in green on the BSE led by  Metal up by 1.60%, Consumer Durables up by 1.51%, Auto up by 1.28%, Oil & Gas up by 1.24%, FMCG up by 1.24%

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco up by 4.49%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 3.27%, Tata Steel up by 3.07%, Sesa Sterlite up by 2.96% and Tata Motors up by 2.65%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.14% and Infosys down by 0.67% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, giving big relief to multinational companies, the government has notified rules for rolling back advance pricing agreements (APA) that seek to provide predictability and stability to taxpayers. As per a Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) notification, the agreement shall contain rollback provisions in respect of an international transaction. Taxpayers who have already filed an APA application or have already entered into an agreement prior to January 1, 2015, need to ensure that they file the rollback application in notified form by March 31, 2015. For fresh applications for APA for 2015-16, too, rollback application will have to be filed by March 31.

Rollback provisions essentially mean that a negotiated position on pricing of an international transaction reached under the advance pricing arrangement can be applied to a similar transaction for up to four years in the past. It relates to the pricing of assets, tangibles and intangibles, services, and funds that are transferred within an organisation in a cross-border transaction.

The notification dated March 14 amending the Income Tax Rules, 1962, defined terms such as 'rollback provision' and 'rollback year', and the procedure for bringing such a rollback provision to effect in an APA. The rules will, however, not apply if the matter is the subject of appeal before the income tax appellate tribunal (ITAT) or if any other tribunal has passed an order disposing off such an appeal.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley had announced rollback provision in his first budget in line with the government's promise to provide a predictable and a non-adversarial tax regime. However, it could not be implemented because of the absence of rules.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8714.45, up by 81.30 points or 0.94% after trading in a range of 8665.15 and 8738.45. There were 44 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 4.57%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 3.22%, Sesa Sterlite up by 2.91%, Tata Motors up by 2.88% and Tata Steel up by 2.77%. On the flip side, Jindal Steel & Power down by 4.78%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.84%, Infosys down by 0.58%, HCL Tech. down by 0.24% and GAIL India down by 0.16% were the top losers.

All the major Asian markets barring Hong Kong were in green, Hang Seng lost 98.32 points or 0.41% to 23,851.23. On the other hand, Jakarta Composite was up by 1.56 points or 0.03% to 5,436.83, Straits Times added 2.4 points or 0.07% to 3,378.44, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 4.75 points or 0.27% to 1,785.29, Shanghai Composite added 11.11 points or 0.32% to 3,460.42, Taiwan Weighted increased by 26.53 points or 0.28% to 9,539.44, KOSPI Index was up by 42.58 points or 2.14% to 2,029.91 and Nikkei 225 surged by 190.94 points or 0.99% to 19,437.00.