Markets to get a cautious start of new series on mixed global cues

The Indian markets surged in last session on short covering, snapping the July series on a strong note with gains of over 4.5% for the series. Today, the start of the new series is likely to be cautious on mixed global cues. However, traders will be getting some support with efforts to hammer out a consensus on the Goods and Services Tax bill gathering momentum. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanyam held several rounds of talks with leaders from opposition parties. Congress the main opposition described the exercise as 'constructive and positive' and the bill is likely to be abled in the Rajya Sabha next week. Meanwhile, Niti Aayog has batted for inclusion of more experts in the government and placing the long-term vision and strategy documents in the public domain for extensive discussion. The body has been mandated to come up with a 15-year vision document for a period up to 2030, which will be co-terminus with sustainable development goals. There will be some buzz in the sugar stocks, as the government is mulling imposing stock limit for sugar millers and restricting domestic sales by fixing quota on each mill to tame sweetener's retail prices.

There will be lots of earnings announcements to keep the markets buzzing. ICICI Bank, L&T, Vedanta, Crompton Greaves, Nestle India, PVR, Karnataka Bank, Heritage Food, KEC International, Rico Auto and  IIFL are among many to announce their numbers today.

The US markets continued their sluggish trade for the third straight session and made another mixed close in last session, as traders reacted to the release of a slew of quarterly results from big-name companies. The Asian markets have made a mixed start, with some of the indices trading marginally in red ahead of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy announcement scheduled today, while the oil headed for its biggest monthly decline in a year.

Back home, Indian equity indices showcased a strong performance, outclassing indices around the world by vivaciously rallying by over half a percent in the session and settling above the psychological 8,650 (Nifty) and 28,200 (Sensex) levels. Investors continued to build hefty positions across the board as sentiments got a boost on hopes that the long-awaited GST Bill may be passed in the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament after the Cabinet on Wednesday cleared changes in the Constitutional Amendment bill. By doing away with the 1 per cent inter-state tax over and above the GST rate, the government has met one of the three key demands over which Opposition Congress has been blocking the Bill in the Upper House. Investors’ morale also remained upbeat as the US Federal Reserve opted to keep interest rates at ultra-low level after the conclusion of a two-day monetary policy meeting. The ultra-loose monetary policy in the US has encouraged heavy investment in higher-yielding emerging markets like India. Besides, the strengthening rupee against the dollar and short-covering by participants with Thursday being the last trading session of the July series of derivative contracts also supported the up move.  Some support also came with global rating agency Crisil’s report that India’s GDP growth could rise to 7.9 per cent because of good monsoon so far, with agriculture expected to grow by 4 per cent and consumer price inflation likely to be restricted to 5 per cent in 2016-2017. On the global front, shares in Japan dragged the Asian markets lower on Thursday, while European stocks slipped in early trade. Back home, the benchmark got off to an optimistic opening, shrugging the sluggish sentiments prevailing in Asian markets as the Federal Reserve left the door open for a US interest rate hike this year. The frontline indices soon gathered momentum and traded with over quarter percent gains through the morning session of trade. Second half of the session saw the key gauges capitalize on the momentum further and spurt to session’s highest levels in dying hour. Finally, the BSE Sensex surged by 184.29 points or 0.66% to 28208.62, while the CNX Nifty rose by 50.50 points or 0.59% to 8,666.30.