Benchmarks remain firm in green in afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued their firm trade in the afternoon session on the back of sustained buying activities by both funds and retail investors. Traders were getting some support with signs that US Fed is embracing a lower-for-longer interest rate regime. Some support also came with a new UN report which calls for more transparent policies if the country aspires to become a global driver of innovation, ranking India 66th in a list of most innovative economies, a jump of 15 places from last year. Meanwhile, traders were seen piling up position in Banking, Power, Realty, PSU and Oil & Gas stocks, on the other hand selling was witnessed in Metal, Capital Goods and Consumer Durables. In scrip specific development, Unitech rallied 2 percent despite the Supreme Court directing the embattled realty major to deposit Rs 15 crore with the court registry for non-delivery of projects. Moreover, Hindalco Industries edged up half a percent after its U.S. arm Novelis Inc. raised $1.15 billion by selling bonds to overseas investors.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green after the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's July meeting showed policy makers remain divided about whether to raise interest rates. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28140.30, up by 134.93 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 28077.00 and 28214.17. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.47%, while Small cap index was up by 0.89%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.32%, Power up by 1.14%, Realty up by 1.12%, PSU up by 0.80% and Oil & Gas up by 0.78%,  while Metal down by 0.18%, Capital Goods down by 0.08% and Consumer Durables down by 0.06% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports & SEZ up by 3.26%, Power Grid Corpn. up by 3.09%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.77%, ICICI Bank up by 1.54% and NTPC up by 1.39%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 2.06%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.67%, Tata Steel down by 0.65%, Asian Paints down by 0.55% and GAIL India down by 0.53% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government expects that after the implementation of GST bill the tax revenue will increase, as the bill is expected to simplify and harmonise the complex indirect tax regime in the country and reduce the cost of production, thereby making industry more competitive. 

In the medium term expenditure framework released last week the government expects higher economic growth, GST and other policy measures to help lift gross tax revenues to 10.9% of gross domestic product (GDP) in FY18 and 11.1% of GDP in FY19. The government expects to bring more attention to capital spending. It wants to set aside more funds for capital spending and expects to show a higher allocation from next fiscal.

Government will take proactive measures for enhancement of the capital component within its total expenditure and also sees total spending decline from estimated 13.1% of GDP in FY17 to 12.2% of GDP by FY19 by curtailing the growth in non-developmental expenditure.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8674.20, up by 50.15 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 8645.05 and 8690.70. There were 38 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 3.32%, Power Grid Corpn. up by 3.03% , Adani Ports &Special up by 3.03% , Ultratech Cement up by 2.32% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.78%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 2.16%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.78%, Tata Steel down by 0.77%, Tata Power down by 0.58% and Asian Paints down by 0.56% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Taiwan Weighted increased 4.8 points or 0.05% to 9,122.50, KOSPI Index increased 11.72 points or 0.57% to 2,055.47, Jakarta Composite increased 69.46 points or 1.29% to 5,441.31 and Hang Seng increased 256.33 points or 1.12% to 23,056.11. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 decreased 259.63 points or 1.55% to 16,486.01, Shanghai Composite decreased 10.11 points or 0.33% to 3,099.44 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 0.95 points or 0.06% to 1,693.37.