Markets trades flat with positive bias in early noon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade flat with positive bias in early noon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. Investors remained cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy decision later in the day and expiry of July F&O expiry on Thursday. However, in a big boost for the passage of the key GST Bill, a majority of states on Tuesday backed the government on key issues which have been stalling the Bill. This has raised hopes that with greater numbers backing the bill, it could be taken up in the Rajya Sabha or upper house in the current monsoon session of Parliament. The GST is seen as the biggest ever tax reforms in the country since independence. In scrip specific development, Dr Reddy’s Lab slumps over 9 per cent as international rating agencies downgraded the stock after its consolidated net profit declined by 80 per cent for the June quarter.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed ahead of key central bank decisions as well as major earnings reports due in Japan and South Korea.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27977.62, up by 1.10 points or 0.00% after trading in a range of 27971.04 and 28210.88. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.03%, while Small cap index was up by 0.32%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.52%, Bankex up by 0.46%, Capital Goods up by 0.43%, TECK up by 0.25% and Oil & Gas up by 0.11%, while Metal down by 0.52%, FMCG down by 0.45%, Realty down by 0.45%, Consumer Durables down by 0.14% and IT down by 0.03% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 3.11%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.56%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.14%, HDFC up by 1.11% and Tata Motors up by 0.96%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 9.29%, Tata Steel down by 2.34%, Axis Bank down by 1.56%, Coal India down by 0.72% and ITC down by 0.72% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, clearing the final hurdle towards payout of the 7th Pay Commission hike in salaries, the government notified the panel’s recommendations. The government has notified a 2.57-time hike in basic salary of one crore government employees and pensioners following implementation of the 7th Pay Commission Recommendations. Central government employees will now get the revised pay from their August salaries.

The notification comes nearly a month after the Union Cabinet on June 29 cleared the Commission’s recommendation on salary hike, which will cost the exchequer annually Rs 1.02 lakh crore. As per the government’s notification, the minimum pay in central government with effect from January 1, 2016 will now be Rs 18,000 per month, up from Rs 7,000 per month. At the highest level of Cabinet Secretary, the salary would go up from Rs 90,000 a month to Rs 2.5 lakh.

As regard the fixation of pay of the employee in the new Pay Matrix as on 1st day of January, 2016, the existing pay in the pre-revised structure as on 31st day of December, 2015 shall be multiplied by a factor of 2.57. The notification said as regards to the annual increment, instead of the earlier July 1, now there will be two dates of January 1 and July 1. In a year the employee will be entitled for increment at one of these dates depending on his date of appointment, etc. The notification further said that the employees will be entitled to only one annual increment on either of these two dates depending on the date of appointment, promotion or grant of financial upgradation.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8599.05, up by 8.40 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 8592.35 and 8665.00. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index, while one stock remained unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 3.66%, ICICI Bank up by 3.40%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.78%, Zee Entertainment up by 1.65% and HDFC up by 1.13%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 9.42%, Tata Steel down by 2.49%, Axis Bank down by 1.57%, Yes Bank down by 1.12% and Idea Cellular down by 0.93% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 1.16 points or 0.07% to 1,662.58, Taiwan Weighted increased 38.6 points or 0.43% to 9,063.39, Jakarta Composite increased 60.48 points or 1.16% to 5,284.88 and Nikkei 225 increased 306.46 points or 1.87% to 16,689.50. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite decreased 74.55 points or 2.44% to 2,975.61, Hang Seng decreased 66.16 points or 0.3% to 22,063.57 and KOSPI Index decreased 1.44 points or 0.07% to 2,025.90.