Benchmarks logs modest gains in late morning session

Indian equity benchmarks continued their modest gains in the late morning session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. The sentiments were on optimistic note with statement of Ravindra Dholakia, one of the three government appointees to the newly formed Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) that there will be no tug of war in the MPC. The tax department just within the week after the first meeting of the GST Council has come out with three draft rules and their formats relating to registration, invoice and payments which would be finalized by week-end. Some support came after Indian rupee strengthened in the opening trade against the dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange following selling of American currency by exporters and bankers amid higher opening at domestic equity markets. Investors’ attention has now turned to American politics with Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton taking part in the first US presidential debate at Hofstra University on New York State’s Long Island. It is the first of three planned presidential debates. Traders were seen piling up positions in IT, TECK and Power stocks, while selling was witnessed in Capital Goods, Oil & Gas and FMCG sector stocks. Telecom stocks Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and MTNL were trading in red after telecom regulator TRAI said it will slap show cause notices on operators for call drops that are far exceeding the norm. The regulator stepped in as row between incumbents like Airtel and new entrant Reliance Jio has escalated after Mukesh Ambani-led Jio charged dominant incumbent operators of providing far fewer points of interconnect than needed for its users to complete calls on rival networks. In scrip specific development, Jyoti Structures was trading firm after media reports suggested that infrastructure company KEC International is planning to buy a controlling stake in the company. The market may remain volatile this week as traders may roll over positions in the Futures & Options (F&O) segment from the near month i.e. September 2016 series to next month i.e. October 2016 series. The near month September 2016 derivatives contracts will expire on Thursday i.e. September 29, 2016.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, amid the first US presidential debate between Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican candidate Donald Trump. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 8,700 and 28,300 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1312:847, while 130 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28357.89, up by 63.61 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 28319.79 and 28432.74. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.29%, while Small cap index was up by 0.56%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.81%, TECK up by 0.61%, Power up by 0.44%, Auto up by 0.41% and Consumer Durables up by 0.37%, while Capital Goods down by 0.21%, Oil & Gas down by 0.08%, FMCG down by 0.06% and PSU down by 0.02% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 1.38%, Power Grid up by 1.23%, Asian Paints up by 1.03%, Coal India up by 0.98% and Sun Pharma up by 0.97%.

On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.19%, ICICI Bank down by 0.91%, ONGC down by 0.86%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.68% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.49% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the country's chief statistician T C A Anant has said that if the country wants considerable development and to emerge as an economic power, it needs to aim for a 10 per cent gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate and sustain it over a decade.

Anant emphasized that the aim for a double digit GDP growth needs to become a habit with the policymakers in the country which they need to endure over a period of time. However, he also said that even a growth rate of 10 per cent continuing for a decade at a stretch may not help India overtake China to emerge as the economic leader in Asia.

He said that Goods and Services Tax (GST), which the Centre is planning to implement from April 1, 2017, will help in calculating the country’s GDP in a better way. Once GST is in place, calculation of GSP (gross state product) will be better. Now GDP at market prices is calculated by adding GVA (gross value added) with taxes and then subtracting the subsidies.

The chief statistician also defended the new series of national income used for GDP calculation, which created controversy, and said “This is better than the older one which did not capture the entire value chain. He added that in new series certain changes have been made like sources of collating data, creation of a quasi-corporate entity which does not submit accounts and corporate, which maintain accounts, among others.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8745.60, up by 22.55 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 8733.45 and 8768.50. There were 29 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Aurobindo Pharma up by 2.66%, Ambuja Cement up by 2.45%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.10%, TCS up by 1.44% and Reliance Industries up by 1.15%.

On the flip side, Bharti Infratel down by 1.40%, BPCL down by 1.39%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.01%, Tata Power down by 0.86% and ICICI Bank down by 0.72% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mixed; KOSPI Index increased 16.33 points or 0.8% to 2,063.44, Nikkei 225 increased 90.5 points or 0.55% to 16,635.06 and Hang Seng increased 262.8 points or 1.13% to 23,580.72.

On the other hand, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 6.21 points or 0.37% to 1,663.29, Jakarta Composite decreased 5.14 points or 0.1% to 5,347.00 and Shanghai Composite decreased 2.49 points or 0.08% to 2,977.94.

Taiwan stock exchange was closed for the day due to Typhoon MEGI.