Benchmarks trade range bound with half a percent gain

Indian equity benchmarks are trading in tight band in noon deals with gains of over half a percent. Sentiments remained up-beat with foreign institutional investors (FIIs) pumping in nearly $2 billion, as compared to a withdrawal of nearly $3 billion in the first two months of calendar year 2016 (CY16). Appreciation in Indian rupee too aided sentiments. The rupee strengthened by 38 paise to 66.84 against the dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange in noon deals on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks amidst higher opening in the domestic equity market.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green at this point of time after the US Federal Reserve (US Fed) kept key rates unchanged and brought down the anticipated hikes in 2016 to two from its earlier December 2015 forecast of four. Closer home, stocks related to infra space edged higher, as President Pranab Mukherjee has said that India is planning to invest over $120 billion in the development of airport infrastructure and aviation navigation services over the next decade. The broader indices too were trading with traction, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,455 shares on the gaining side against 836 shares on the losing side while 153 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24849.95, up by 167.47 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 24802.44 and 24948.30. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.97%, while Small cap index up by 0.66%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 2.93%, PSU up by 1.82%, Basic Materialsup by 1.64%, Energy up by 1.51% and TECK up by 1.22%, while Healthcare down by 0.61% remained the lone loser on the BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were GAIL India up by 4.79%, Adani Ports & Special up by 4.36%, ONGC up by 3.00%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.77% and ICICI Bank up by 2.54%. On the flip side, Lupin down by 2.60%, Sun Pharma down by 0.97%, HDFC down by 0.79%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 0.38% and HDFC Bank down by 0.22% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the apex direct taxes body has announced rules to implement the new regime that kicks in from April 1, with an aim to attract offshore fund management activity into the country. It has liberalized the tax framework to extend exemption to fund houses owned by a single institutional entity.

CBDT has said that the rules for operationalisation of the provisions of Section 9A of the I-T Act have been inserted in the Income-tax Rules, 1961. From April 1, 2016, the offshore funds will attract a special taxation regime under Section 9A, under which the fund management activity carried out through an eligible fund manager in India would not lead to the residence of the fund in India.

CBDT has also introduced an optional pre-approval mechanism which will work like an advance ruling, allowing such fund managers to get clarity on tax liability before starting operations. Under this mechanism, the fund can approach the CBDT to determine whether it has met the prescribed conditions and once the board grants approval, tax benefit cannot be denied to the fund by the tax officer. These rules have relaxed the harsh conditions imposed by Section 9A.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7558.35, up by 59.60 points or 0.79% after trading in a range of 7541.95 and 7585.30. There were 42 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 5.69%, GAIL India up by 4.70%, Tech Mahindra up by 4.41%, Ambuja Cement up by 4.24% and Adani Ports & Special up by 4.05%. On the flip side, Lupin down by 2.87%, Sun Pharma down by 0.94%, HDFC down by 0.76%, Tata Power down by 0.59% and Dr. Reddys Lab down by 0.41% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 9.86 points or 0.58% to 1,703.29, KOSPI Index gained 13.09 points or 0.66% to 1,987.99, Jakarta Composite rose 18.97 points or 0.39% to 4,880.41, Shanghai Composite surged 27.97 points or 0.97% to 2,898.40, Taiwan Weighted added 35.4 points or 0.41% to 8,734.54 and Hang Seng was up by 198.67 points or 0.98% to 20,456.37. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 was down by 38.07 points or 0.22% to 16,936.38.