Post Session: Quick Review

Buying activity which took place during dying hour of trade mainly drove the markets higher and key domestic benchmarks managed to keep their head above water on Friday. Earlier, domestic gauges kept altering between green and red terrain throughout the session and somehow managed to eke out slender gains as sentiment has improved after the government stuck to its fiscal deficit target for the next financial year, raising hopes the central bank would soon cut key policy rates. However, the upside remained capped as market participants remained on sidelines ahead of outcome of the second edition of Gyan Sangam, a retreat of heads of public sector financial institutions, in the background of the government's strategy to consolidate public sector (PSU) banks.

Some cautiousness crept in the markets with weak services PMI data released last day. Growth in India's services firms fell to a three-month low of 51.4 in February from 54.3 in January, as output rose only marginally. The seasonally adjusted Nikkei/Markit Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) had experienced a 19 month high rate of growth in January, marking a seventh month above the 50-level that separates growth from contraction.

On the global front, European markets have made a firm start on Friday as solid results at chipmaker Gemalto and firmer mining stocks kept equities on their recent upwards trajectory. Asian markets ended mostly in green as global investors returned to riskier assets after a string of positive US economic data and a bounce in oil and commodity prices.

Back home, staying on the upward trajectory for the sixth straight day, the rupee gained another 13 paise to trade at 67.21 against the US dollar at the time of equity markets closing at the Interbank Foreign. Buying in metal counter too aided sentiments as commodities prices in the global market extended their recovery. Banking stocks remained on buyers’ radar as major public sector banks could see their capital adequacy ratio (CAR) increasing by 20 to 100 basis points after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) eased some rules on Tuesday to boost their capital.

Shares of two public sector oil marketing companies i.e. HPCL and BPCL gained as recent gains in rupee against the dollar will help reduce cost of crude oil imports. Sugar company stocks remained in limelight after international sugar prices soared to eight-week high on Thursday on account of tightening supplies. On the domestic front, sugar prices also soared nearly 50 per cent between August 3 and March 3. However, telecom stocks edged lower after the Supreme Court declined any interim relief to telecom companies against the Delhi High Court's order upholding TRAI's decision making it mandatory for them to compensate subscribers for call drops from January 1, 2016.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index -- Nifty -- rose by around ten points to end near the psychological 7,500 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -- Sensex -- surged by around forty points to finish above the psychological 24,600 mark. However, broader markets outperformed benchmarks and ended the session with a gain of around a percent.  The market breadth remained in the favour off advances, as there were 1,520 shares on the gaining side against 1,081 shares on the losing side while 147 shares remain unchanged. (Provisional).

The BSE Sensex ended at 24646.48, up by 39.49 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 24531.80 and 24719.05. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.13%, while Small cap index up by 0.75%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.15%, PSU up by 1.94%, Bankex up by 1.28%, Power up by 1.19% and Finance up by 1.18%, while IT down by 0.46%, TECK down by 0.41%, Consumer Durables down by 0.12% were the few losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 4.17%, SBI up by 3.59%, Coal India up by 3.56%, Tata Motors up by 2.27% and Cipla up by 2.04%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 1.42%, Asian Paints down by 1.37%, Wipro down by 1.29%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.00% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.88% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, giving significant relief to the taxpayers by reducing arbitrariness in the disposal of stay petitions, a much misused and harassment- prone discretionary power of the Assessing Officer (A.O) to grant stay of demand has been withdrawn by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), by issuing an Office Memorandum. The CBDT has revised guidelines for stay of demand at the stage of first appeal. The move comes soon after the first set of recommendations by the Justice RV Easwar committee to simply the Income Tax Act that also suggested an automatic stay on demand to the taxpayer on payment of seven and a-half per cent of the demand till the first appellate order is passed.

In the revised guidelines, CBDT has ordered that now Assessing Officers can grant a stay of demand until the first appeal is disposed if the taxpayer pays 15 per cent of the disputed demand. This stay of demand is a feather in the cap and will rank as one of the stellar decisions in this regard.

The CBDT has further said that in case of any deviation from the standard pre-payment of 15 per cent by the Assessing Officer, the case will be referred to the administrative Principal Commissioner or Commissioner will take a final call. In case, despite a 15 per cent stay, the tax payer is still unhappy, he can approach the jurisdictional administrative Principal Commissioner or Commissioner.

CBDT said that “It has been reported that field authorities often insist on a payment of a very high proportion of the disputed demand before granting stay of the balance demand. This often results in hardship for the taxpayers seeking stay of demand.”

The CNX Nifty ended at 7485.35, up by 9.75 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 7444.10 and 7505.90. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were PNB up by 5.06% and BHEL up by 4.16% and Vedanta up by 4.11% and Coal India up by 3.52% and BPCL up by 3.20%. On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 2.78%, Idea Cellular down by 2.49%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.27%, Asian Paints down by 1.64% and Sun Pharma down by 1.62% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC increased 9.14 points or 0.21% to 4,425.22, Germany’s DAX rose 14.73 points or 0.15% to 9,766.65 and UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 23.28 points or 0.38% to 6,153.74.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Friday as global investors returned to riskier assets after a string of positive US economic data and a bounce in oil and commodity prices. US data on Thursday was positive on the whole, with factory orders rising and the service sector index showing continued expansion. Investors are now keenly awaiting today's key US employment report and China's annual legislative sessions starting on Saturday. The US Labor Department's monthly jobs report is expected to show an increase of about 190,000 jobs in February following the addition of 151,000 jobs in January. The unemployment rate is expected to hold at 4.9 percent. China stocks rose for their fourth straight day, as a tumble in small-caps triggered by supply fears was offset by a surge in banks amid speculation that government-backed investors helped stabilise the market ahead of a key meeting by China's parliament.