Benchmarks extend gains in noon deals; Sensex regains 25,500 mark

Indian equity benchmarks have extended their northward journey in noon deals with frontline gauges recapturing their crucial 7,750 (Nifty) and 25,500 (Sensex) levels amid firm global cues. All the Asian equity indices were trading in green terrain at this point of time ahead of the outcome of the Federal Reserve meeting. Appreciation in Indian rupee too supported the sentiments. The partially convertible rupee was trading at 66.85 per dollar at the time of equity market closing against the Tuesday’s close of 66.93 on the Interbank Foreign Exchange on the back of dollar-selling by custodian banks. Some support also came with report that the foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 48.67 crore yesterday as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

There was broad based buying witnessed in the markets and apart from the blue chips, the broader markets too equally participated in the rally. Buying in Oil shares too aided sentiments following slight rebound in global crude oil prices. Also, sugar stocks continue to trade higher for second straight session after a bill was passed by the Lok Sabha to hike the sugar cess ceiling from Rs 25 to Rs 200 per quintal. Shares related to automobile companies were trading mixed on the bourses after the Supreme Court banned registration of luxury diesel cars until March 31, 2016.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25562.70, up by 242.26 points or 0.96% after trading in a range of 25372.47 and 25565.84. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.96%, while Small cap index up by 0.81%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 2.30%, Realty up by 1.95%, Power up by 1.76%, PSU up by 1.62% and TECK up by 1.49%, while FMCG down by 0.13% and Consumer Durables down by 0.11% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 3.76%, GAIL India up by 3.68%, ONGC up by 3.26%, ICICI Bank up by 2.33% and BHEL up by 1.81%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 4.19%, ITC down by 0.50%, Wipro down by 0.47%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.15% and Coal India down by 0.10% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the finance ministry expects that the government will probably face a shortfall of Rs 30,000-40,000 crore in direct tax collection of the Budget Estimate for the current fiscal. Though, it is confident of meeting the fiscal deficit target of 3.9 percent of gross domestic product, without cutting expenditure on the back of robust indirect tax collections.

Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said “We are optimistic… Advance tax numbers are expected in December… There could be a marginal shortfall in direct taxes to the tune of Rs 30,000-40,000 crore.' The latest estimates are lower than the revenue department's earlier fears of Rs 50,000 crore shortfall, expressed in October.

Adhia further said that in the first eight months of the current financial year, Direct tax collection posted a 12.63 per cent growth cent to Rs 3.69 lakh crore. This is 46.26 per cent of the budgeted target of Rs 7.97 lakh crore. However, the indirect tax collections between April-November have been robust with a growth of 34.3 per cent to Rs 4.38 lakh crore. Adhia said that he is positive that the government will not only meet the indirect tax collection target, even will exceed it and make good the shortfall in direct taxes as well.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7773.25, up by 72.35 points or 0.94% after trading in a range of 7715.75 and 7774.40. There were 43 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cairn India up by 4.90%, Bharti Airtel up by 3.49%, ONGC up by 3.47%, GAIL India up by 3.36% and Tata Power up by 2.60%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 4.13%, Asian Paints down by 1.52%, ITC down by 0.59%, Wipro down by 0.54% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.42% were the top losers.

All the Asian equity markets were treading in green; Shanghai Composite rose 3.94 points or 0.11% to 3,514.29, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 10.84 points or 0.67% to 1,633.68, KOSPI Index soared 36.43 points or 1.88% to 1,969.40, Jakarta Composite gained 45.29 points or 1.03% to 4,454.46, Taiwan Weighted surged 111.31 points or 1.38% to 8,184.66, Hang Seng strengthened 392.68 points or 1.85% to 21,667.05 and Nikkei 225 was up by 484.01 points or 2.61% to 19,049.91.