Markets likely to make a flat-to-positive start

The Indian markets went for a rally in last session, posting gains of over a percent and ending near the highs of the day. Today, the start is likely to be flat-to-positive, though traders will keep reacting positively to the GST Bill winning majority support of the Rajya Sabha Select Committee, which has endorsed almost all the provisions, while also agreeing to demands for five-year compensation to states. Traders will also be getting some support with report of Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country rising to four-month high of $3.85 billion in May 2015, up by 7 percent compared to the same month of last year. Also, there will be some encouragement with India Ratings report that the Centre’s housing for all project is expected to give the economy a Rs 15-trillion boost over the next 7 years. Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the government is not considering any plans to introduce foreign direct investment (FDI) in e-commerce retail. There will be some buzz in capital goods companies associated with defence manufacturing activities, as the government has eased several bureaucratic hurdles in export regulations and done away with a provision that demanded multiple assurances by foreign governments even for the sale of components and parts by Indian entities. There will be lots of result announcements too, to keep the markets buzzing.

The US markets ended lower in last session, extending their decline, reacting negatively to the latest earnings news. Apple reported better than expected third quarter earnings but on weaker than expected iPhone unit sales. However, there was bigger than expected increase in existing home sales in June. The Asian markets have made a mixed start with some of the indices trading modestly in red. The Japanese market was trading higher after country’s exports increased the most in five months in June, boosted by growth in automobile and electronic parts.

Back home, Wednesday proved wonderful day of trade for the Indian markets, which smartly coming out their slump of last session posted triple digit rally. The start was on a sluggish note tailing the weakness in the global markets, but the markets bounced back in style in the very first hour and kept gaining momentum reclaiming the crucial psychological levels lost in last week’s sell-off. Though, the rally was guided by the surge in blue-chip stocks, the broader markets equally contributed to the upsurge. Once the markets started moving up there was no looking back, barring some stock specific profit taking. Traders got some support with Goods and Services Tax (GST) panel submitting its report to Rajya Sabha, proposing three modifications related to clause 12, 18 and 19. The first modification is regarding 1 percent additional tax on inter-state supply in Clause 18, which the panel has said that may lead to cascading effect on taxes. The panel said the term 'supply' should be clarified and proposed term ‘Band’ be defined within GST limit. The panel has recommended compensation for GST loss for 5 years. There is a strong possibility of passage of the GST Bill during the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament given 'broad consensus’ among political parties. The most important factor of the rally was global cues remaining totally unsupportive and while most of the Asian markets ended in red, the European markets too made a weak start. Back home, markets retained their jubilation throughout the trading session and both the major indices posted triple digit rally, with Nifty reclaiming the crucial psychological level of 8600 and ending near the three months closing high. Traders overlooked the depreciation in rupee, which traded modestly lower till the time of equity markets closing. Finally, the BSE Sensex surged by 322.79 points or 1.15% to 28504.93, while the CNX Nifty soared by 104.05 points or 1.22% to 8633.50.