Markets shows sign of recovery; Sensex enters green

Indian markets were showing some sign of recovery and the Sensex was back in green, albeit modestly, the Nifty too was trying to enter the green terrain. The markets apart from some lower level buying were getting some support with gains in rupee which strengthened against the US dollar in line with the firm trend seen in other Asian currency markets. Though, there was lack of any major supportive cues that could have supported the markets in the upmove and the pressure was still being witnessed. Traders had booked profit at the higher levels after continuous surge in last couple of sessions, also the regional markets turned lower after oil prices resumed their fall with petroleum workers calling off a strike in key OPEC producer Kuwait, weighing down the sentiments. Back on street, while metal and commodity space continue to remain in limelight, its mainly the scrip specific movement that is keeping the markets buzzing, Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC) shares gained over one and half a per cent on its plan to list up to 10 per cent of its life insurance joint venture with Britain’s Standard Life Plc in an initial public offering. On the same time TCS the largest IT Company of the country was down by over 2 per cent despite the company reporting a higher-than-expected 73 per cent growth in its March quarter net profit. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25828.29, up by 11.93 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 25716.81 and 25956.34. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices too were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.10%, while Small cap index gained 0.59%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 3.31%, Consumer Durables up by 1.91%, Power up by 1.33%, Capital Goods up by 0.86%, PSU up by 0.46%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.76%, TECK down by 0.65%, Auto down by 0.59%, IT down by 0.48%, FMCG down by 0.29% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 5.73%, Axis Bank up by 2.53%, GAIL India up by 1.54%, Wipro up by 1.39% and Adani Ports &Special up by 1.39%. On the flip side, TCS down by 2.37%, Reliance Industries down by 1.88%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.78%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.26% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.76% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government is planning to withdraw 7,500 cases related to service tax and Customs from tribunals and high courts where the disputed tax is below the threshold set in December at Rs 10 lakh for the Customs Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) and Rs 15 lakh for high courts. The move is expected to clear the litigation backlog. However, it is not seeking withdrawal of cases from the Supreme Court because cases at that level are few and most relate to matters of law.

Following the decision, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) have started filing applications with the tribunals and high courts seeking withdrawal of the cases. The step is taken to make the tax regime non-adversarial, with a focus on quality rather than meeting collection targets.

Moreover, the CBEC is instructing tax officials to issue notices based on merit alone and are training them on how to issue legally sound notices and orders which is being imparted on the qualities of a good adjudication order, advocacy, interpretation of statutes as well as drafting of laws. Further, it has instructed zonal chief commissioners and principal commissioners to hold monthly or bi-monthly meetings with all the adjudicating and appellate authorities in their zones and advise them on how to pass orders. Besides, pre-notice consultation at the level of principal commissioner and commissioner has been made mandatory in all cases where the tax involved is above Rs 50 lakh.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7908.80, down by 5.90 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 7877.55 and 7950.40. There were 27 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 5.77%, Hindalco up by 3.92%, Power Grid Corpn. up by 2.67%, Axis Bank up by 2.29% and GAIL India up by 1.70%. On the flip side, Idea Cellular down by 3.23%, Bharti Infratel down by 2.52%, TCS down by 2.33%, Reliance Industries down by 2.23% and Zee Entertainment down by 1.94% were the top losers.

All the major Asian markets barring Japanese index were trading in red, Japanese Nikkei 225 was up by 32.1 points or 0.19% to 16,906.54.

On the other hand, Hang Seng slumped by 199.9 points or 0.93% to 21,236.31, Taiwan Weighted lost 119.24 points or 1.38% to 8,514.48, Shanghai Composite was down by 70.24 points or 2.31% to 2,972.58, Jakarta Composite declined by 7.31 points or 0.15% to 4,874.62, KOSPI Index was down by 5.53 points or 0.27% to 2,005.83 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was lower by 3.27 points or 0.19% to 1,707.88

European markets too have made a weak start and were trading mixed, Germany’s DAX was up by 7.08 points or 0.07% to 10,356.67, while UK’s FTSE 100 declined by 19.85 points or 0.31% to 6,385.50 and France’s CAC was lower by 14.73 points or 0.32% to 4,551.75.